The Versailles Philadelphia
Above the roofs of Philadelphia, the Versailles luxury apartment complex has created...
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A total of approximately 1,580 m² of MOSO® Bamboo X-treme® decking boards were installed in the Braunhubergasse apartment complex in Vienna. Each apartment has a private outside area in the form of a loggia, balcony or roof terrace. All these open spaces are covered with MOSO® Bamboo X-treme® decking boards installed on an aluminium substructure. At the roof, there is a public roof terrace with pool for the shared use of all residents, also clad with sustainable bamboo. The green inner courtyard of the residential complex serves as a further communication zone for the residents and offers play and relaxation areas as well as a bamboo terrace for collective garden parties.
In the Vienna district of Simmering there are no houses with magnificent facades, they are not stately buildings. The classical workers’ and industrial district is rather a counterpoint to the magnificent Vienna. Here Austria’s capital is mixed in many ways, rough and a little wild. And, in Simmering, housing costs are still affordable. New concepts have emerged in recent years, such as the new building between Braunhuberpark and Herderpark, which was completed in spring. What is special about this building, however, is not the apartments, but the outdoor areas – above all the communal roof terrace with pool and wide views over Vienna.
The design by the team of Hagmüller architects envisages a generously dimensioned, balanced combination of private and communally usable open spaces. Each apartment has its own loggia, balcony or roof terrace. The green inner courtyard of the residential complex serves as a communication zone for the residents and offers play and relaxation areas as well as an area for shared garden parties. But in summer the roof terrace with pool is probably the preferred place for everyone to escape the heat in the city. The architects designed this open space in the form of a folded seating and lying surface.
The new concept severely restricted the choice of materials due to technical and architectural features. After thorough testing, only one single material fulfilled all static and structural requirements and was also visually and haptically convincing: terrace decking made of solid MOSO® Bamboo X-treme®. In total, the craftsmen have installed 1,580 m² of outdoor boardsmade of thermally modified, High Density® bamboo: both private and communal open spaces, both horizontal and vertical.
With their design, the architects have combined the greatest possible safety and sustainability with the best possible comfort. The same wood was used for the pool cladding and the approx. 300 m² terrace area. When laying the planks, height differences were to be compensated and stair connections were to be visually integrated. But for this, the entire surface had to be laid horizontally, i.e. without the prescribed gradient and only with little rear ventilation. In addition, the planned lush greening of the terrace with large plant boxes of up to four metres in length placed high demands on the load-bearing capacity of the planks.
For the client and architect it was clear that tropical wood was out of the question for ecological reasons; domestic wood species could not meet the criteria. After extensive research, it turned out that only MOSO® Bamboo X-treme® decking boards could meet all requirements: They are CO2-neutral according to ISO 14040/44 and classified in durability class 1 according to CEN/TS 15083-2/ EN350. Assessed with fire class B-s1-d0 according to EN 13501-1, the boards also meet the requirements for use in public buildings.
The biggest challenge, however, was the high load capacity which the planks have to fulfil permanently due to the planting of greenery with plant boxes. It was therefore above all a technical decision to equip the entire roof terrace with MOSO® Bamboo X-treme®. “MOSO® had commissioned an independent engineering firm to carry out a stress analysis. The load capacity of up to 3 tonnes per square metre was to be tested; the result far exceeded expectations and requirements, so that the client agreed to the extension of the terrace with MOSO® Bamboo X-treme®,” says Dipl. Ing. Harald Eder, Hagmüller Architects, describing the background.
MOSO® achieves the quality of its decking boards through an elaborate thermal treatment at around 200°C and subsequent high compaction of the bamboo strips, which does not require any fungicides, pesticides or coatings such as varnishes or glazes. This balanced treatment – Bamboo X-treme® not only makes you resistant to mould and fungal attack even in direct contact with the ground and water, but also sustainably reduces the formation of cracks and changes in shape. In its prescribed annual inspection of the roof terrace, the Viennese magistrate will not only check the crack formation exactly, but also the slip resistance and the stability of the decking boards.
This natural, unique process makes the floorboards an ecological, economical and durable solution for demanding construction projects. The client and the architects could choose between a smooth and a ribbed side for the optical design of the terrace surfaces. For optical reasons, they opted for the smooth side as the running surface, as it also fulfils the required slip resistance R10 according to DIN 51130. MOSO® proves the quality and durability of Bamboo X-treme® with traceable test results, fully documented FSC® certification and object documentation.
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Get in touch with the MOSO® Bamboo expert who was involved in this project. Our MOSO® Bamboo experts are happy to help.
Michael van Houten
Area Sales Manager MOSO International B.V., the Netherlands
