Heritage Hotel Life Palace

Just like a scene from a fairy-tale book, the Heritage Hotel Life Palace, nestling perfectly in a small, lively square in Šibenik – a Croatian city on the Dalmatian coast – was recently opened.

The original features of Palace Marenci, dating back to the XV Century, have been integrated to perfection within these exclusive interiors, where every step you take is like paying homage to the glorious history of Šibenik.

An oasis of luxury and the ideal base to explore the city and its surroundings, between 2014 and 2015 the Heritage Hotel Life Palace underwent a major overhaul, with a key role being played by the best products on offer from Mapei for upgrading structures and for renovation work.

REPAIRING USING PRODUCTS FROM THE MAPE-ANTIQUE LINE

Once a thorough analysis had been carried out to assess the level of deterioration to the structure, renovation work commenced by preparing the surfaces of building’s internal and external walls, from ground level right up to the roof. The old render had been removed and the façades had been sand-blasted to remove all the loose or crumbly material, the areas with large gaps and/or breaks in the surface were filled and integrated with masonry mortar made from MAPE-ANTIQUE LC, a special salt-resistant, lime and Eco-Pozzolan based, cement-free hydraulic binder recommended for renovating masonry on old buildings damaged by capillary rising damp, including those of historical or artistic interest, such as was in this case.

Sand from local quarries (with a particle size of 0 - 3 mm) from Mount Svilaja was added to the mortar to give the façades a colour very similar to that of the other ancient buildings in the area.

STRUCTURAL CONSOLIDATION

The original stone walls – from 65 to 120 cm thick and built using the double skin technique – were restored and consolidated with with another cutting-edge product from the Mape-Antique line: MAPE-ANTIQUE I-15, a powdered, fillerized hydraulic binder made from lime, Eco-Pozzolan, ultra-fine natural sand and special additives according to a formula developed in the Mapei research laboratories, which is used to make cement-free injection slurry.

To overcome the problem of rising damp spreading from the foundations of the building to above the flooring level, MAPESTOP, concentrated, silane and siloxane-based silicone emulsion, was injected into the wall by gravity-feed.

Main entrance doors and surrounding windows of the building had stone features that were badly worn or broken. To guarantee their stability, and the stability of the entire building, CARBOPLATE E 170, pultruded carbon fibre plates with a double plastic protective film were applied, an alternative to the traditional method of using steel plates for cladding (béton plaqué) work; the plates were bonded in place with ADESILEX PG1 epoxy thixotropic adhesive for structural bonding.