Yelken Hotel

Scope of work

A hotel thermal suite with a marble hammam at its centre, a sauna and steam rooms alongside,and a mosaic-lined pool completing the circuit. The package covered room build-up and tanking,the marble and the mosaic including the pool lining, the heating circuits, the cabin with its heater and control, generators, ventilation terminals, drainage and commissioning.

Lining a pool in mosaic

A mosaic pool is the least forgiving finish in a spa. The tesserae are small, so the eye reads every deviation in the substrate; the joints are numerous, so the grout does most of the waterproofing work at the surface; and the vessel moves, so the build-up has to accommodate that movement without cracking the bed. The sequence that works is a true, cured substrate first, then the tanking, then a full adhesive bed applied so no voids are left behind thetesserae — a void is where a tile detaches — then epoxy grout. Movement joints are designed into the tile grid at the vessel’s own joints rather than cut in afterwards. Doing this in the right order is slower and is the only way a mosaic pool survives. Product pages:pools andindoor swimming pool.

Air and tanking

Sauna: supply low at the heater, extract low diagonally opposite. Hammam and steam rooms:continuous extract running past closing so the rooms dry down overnight. The pool hall needsdehumidified supply and enough extract to stay slightly negative against the dry side of the hotel, with warm air moved across the glazing. Every wet room was tanked before finishes:bonded membrane over the screed, reinforcing tape into corners, movement joints and penetrations, dressed into the gullies, falls formed in the screed, epoxy grout above.

Frequently asked questions