Berkarar Hotel

Scope of work

Two hammams of different character — one in marble under a dome, one lined in mosaic —together with a sauna, a steam room and a jacuzzi. The package covered room build-up andtanking, the stone and mosaic work, the dome construction and its finishes, the heating circuits, the cabin, the generator equipment, ventilation terminals, drainage andcommissioning.

Building the dome

A hammam dome is a piece of engineering disguised as decoration. Its function is to move condensate: in a room held near saturation, water forms on the ceiling continuously, and a curved soffit runs it down to the perimeter instead of dropping it on the bathers. That gives the dome three requirements. It has to be geometrically true, because a flat spot collectswater. It has to be built over a substrate that tolerates constant condensation, tanked like any other wet surface. And every penetration through it — light fittings above all — has to be detailed as a potential drip point, which is why fittings in a domed hammam are set flush and sealed rather than surface-mounted. Where a full dome will not fit the available height, a shallow vault does the same job. More on the room type atmodern hammam.

Air, tanking and the jacuzzi

Sauna: supply low at the heater, extract low diagonally opposite. Hammams and steam room:continuous extract that runs past closing so they dry down overnight. The jacuzzi needs extract above it, because a heated, agitated water surface evaporates faster than a still pool and will otherwise load the whole area. Every wet room was tanked before finishes — bonded membrane over the screed and, where the surface is vapour-loaded, over walls and ceiling too, with reinforcingtape into corners, movement joints and penetrations, falls in the screed, epoxy grout above.

Frequently asked questions