Technical
Specifcations
Walls
Exterior walls: 2 layers of Kebe #90 new generation clay bricks, with a layer of thermal insulation Fibran ECO extruded polystyrene of 5cm thickness in between.
Interior seperator walls: 2 layers of Kebe #90 new generation clay bricks, with a layer of thermal and sound insulation of Fibran Geolan stone wool of 5cm thickness.
Interior walls: 1 layer of Kebe #90 new generation clay bricks.
Roofs
Thermal insulation: Fibran ECO extruded polystyrene 5cm thickness plates, layered over the concrete slabs.
Moisture control: Fakro Eurotop roofing membrane.
Wood paints: Vivechrom Aquaxyl Plus and Varnish.
Timber: Swedish wood.
Roof Tiles: Kothali Roman type, colored tiles.
Water Supply, Sanitary Drainage & Heating
Water supply: Interplast aquaplus single-wall random poly- propylene pipes.
Sanitary drainage: All materials used, comply with the standards of the Greek Committee of Standardization, ELOT.
Heating: Three layer polypropylene-aluminium-polypropylene pipes, with external insulation.
ELectrical Systems
Structural engineering
Considerations
Concrete Class: C20/25 high strength concrete.
Reinforcing Steel: Sidenor S500s high ductile steel.
Curing method: According to ACI (American Concrete Insitute) general guidelines, and specific instructions on hot weather concreting.
The construction supervision was performed according to the general accepted practices and also on the Greek National Code of Reinforced Concrete. 15cm dimensioned cubic samples were often taken to ensure the strength of the delivered concrete.
Reinforcing steel delivered to the site was always accompanied by certificates of its origin. The aim was twofold. First to ensure that the steel was meeting the standards set and second to check that it was manufactured from scrap with no radioactive components, as it is often seen lately in many construction sites.
The use of spacers
It is also important to mention the use of plastic spacers used to safely give the reinforcing bars the necessary concrete cover to perform.
This is so important to realize in the construction phase otherwise the steel will not work as expected (or not at all in many cases) and also to protect the steel from the highly corruptive sea environment which can render the steel useless in very short time by oxidization (rust).
Structural Design Phase
Meticulous and detailed design was performed to meet (if not by far exceed) all the national standards of practice and legal frames. As the geographic location of Greece and especially Halkidiki gives them the characteristic of high seismic activity, actually the highest among all the European countries, good detailing of the supporting structure is of paramount importance, contrtibuting very much in the final total value of any structure, letting aside subjects regarding the security of the vacants.
Sophisticated analysis software was used and many more methods were used to find the extreme values of deformations of the concrete frame, than that which the Greek Aseismic Design Code suggests (namely the Response Spectra method).
So time-history analyses were incorporated also and non-lineal geometry and material methods were also taken into account to reinforce the output.
Structural Supervision Phase
In the construction phase afterwards supervision was continuous and very demanding to produce a result that would me as much as humanly possible near the requirements of the previously performed design phase.
Reinforcing steel was shaped taking into account several practical considerations and it was delivered in numered lots. The construction team was supplied with very detailed and well explained construction documents.
The results were often exceeded the expectations of the contractors.
In the images we compare four reinforcing details, three from the foundations and one from a beam in the superstructure. To the left is the 3d model of the reinforcement as derived from the analysis and to the right the actual construction is shown. The similarities these images reveal are striking.
Final remarks
Thermal insulation of the frame was performed by applying 2.5cm thick polysterine panels.
During the main construction the wastewater concrete chambers were also constructed, each of the five with a net capacity of 15m3.
Frame Imperfections: Sika SikaGrout212, Sika MonoTop 621 Blitz, Isomat Ferroseal.