Elmau Castle, June 2015: The heads of state of the seven major economic nations are meeting for the G7-summit at the foot of the Alpes. The mountain panorama and the prestigious hotel dominates the world press front pages and TV news for two days. A large staff of security personnel transforms the hotel into a high-security zone for these two days. In the background, Teckentrup fire and smoke doors ensure that protection from the spread of fire is in place at the hotel which opened in the spring.
Preparations began long before Obama and Merkel, Hollande, Cameron and further heads of states met for the G7-summit in 2015. The venue had to be presentable, offer enough space and be safe. Elmau Castle, opened in Krün in spring 2015, was selected: a new five-star development, that extended the traditional castle hotel southeast of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
During the summit meeting, the hotel and the surrounding area are a high security zone. But even when the troops of politicians, security staff and journalists have left the Alps (and security levels are back to normal), the five-star hotel has high security requirements.
The supply and technical rooms are in the basement of the hotel: boiler room, laundry, warehouse, etc. The focus here is on function-oriented solutions - robust doors that offer high reliability - such as the Teckentrup 62-door series. The modular system always provides matching solutions for each application – for example, with individual smoke and fire protection, or with the sizes of one-leaf or double leaf elements.
At Elmau Castle, the doors of the 62-series are installed as T90 fire protective barriers where higher levels of fire-protection are required, and wherever further functions were required multi-purpose doors (Teckentrup dw 62) are in use – for example as external doors. In order to protect the passageways between guest and operating areas from unauthorised access and enabling easy opening at the same time, the doors were equipped with contactless access control via chip cards.
The details are just as high-quality: Strike and face plates are appealing and durable made of stainless steel (SAE304); most doors have sliding door closers or even integrated door closers. Integrated hold-open devices increase ease and escape route control is ensured by self-locking panic locks.
Functions and dimensions for each door were defined precisely in advance. Thanks to the modular system, all requirements were met. When installing the doors, the variable frame and mounting system proved its worth: Only one screw per fastening point in exposed masonry ensures short installation times; and since these points are concealed, not a single screw head disturbs the appearance. Furthermore, the frame solutions are as variable as the doors themselves and always offer ideal interface methods for diverse installation situations.
The flaps to the laundry shafts, one fitted on each of the four floors are important for fire safety. In the event of a fire, the shafts would work like a chimney and the convenient flaps are fire-proof (T90) and equipped with a door closer and integrated hold-open device.
Some routes do not connect to reception areas, but since they are not purely staff passageways, guests also pass through - for example at the underground garages. Here the demand on aesthetics increases. In line with the house’s high-quality style, doors in the elegant Pharmol-Amber colour shade with matching bronze-coloured fittings are installed.
The castle has - amongst others - masonry, concrete and drywalls. With corner/counter frames, surrounding frames and block frames, a durable and lasting construction can be used in every scenario. This also applies where there are particularly thick walls – the rim width of some frames is up to 545 millimetres, dimensions that fit a castle.
Even a top hotel has supply passages that remind you more of industrial plants. Here, robust doors are in demand that fulfil their job on a permanent basis. With the modular door series Teckentrup 62, doors tailored to requirements are available for countless installation situations. T30 and T90 versions are used in the supply wing at Elmau Castle. Multi-purpose doors Teckentrup dw 62's were installed outside.
Five-Star-Hotel Elmau Castle nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen – venue of the G7-summit 2015 and centre of the world’s interest for two days. The location is ideal: On the one hand overviewing the mountains offers a spectacular panorama. On the other, the hotel is situated away from big settlement areas and access roads and can thus be protected easier than a place in the heart of a metropolis. With 128 rooms in the main building and 47 suites in the new building, several conference rooms and the 'large hall' as well as numerous restaurants, the facility also comprises sufficient space for a summit of this size.
Builder - Elmau Castle Krün
Architects - DBLB Planning Company, Munich
Processors - Georg Sanktjohanser, Lenggries
Teckentrup Products - 57 elements (door series 62 as T30 and T90, some with smoke protection, multi-purpose doors, T90 flaps, frames)