Exterior restoration of “ King David “ Tower in in Tel-Aviv shoreline
Project Description
The construction of the tower was completed in 1994. It was designed by architect Yehuda Feigin, who created its unique shape. Due to the tower’s proximity to the seashore, signs of corrosion damage were visible, including cracking in the mosaic enveloped, separation of plaster layers from the base and most prominently, curving of red granite tiles that covered the tower’s eastern front.
Due to this, it was decided in 2016 to carry out a multi-stage project for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the tower’s facades. Initially, the plaster and mosaic layers were completely stripped for a thorough rehabilitation of the concrete frame and the facade, then reconstruction with an innovative inhibitor-enriched plaster system designated for marine environment, and finally reapplication of mosaic tiles that are identical to those on the famous Simona tower in the Monaco principality. The second stage was a controlled removal of the red granite slabs to enable deep rehabilitation of the eastern concrete frame and facade, then impregnating the concrete base with an innovative active crystalline sealing system. At the same time, a quarry in central Ukraine was selected for the production of masonry slabs identical to those removed (by the way, the same quarry produced in the 1920’s granite tiles for Lenin’s tomb in Moscow’s Red Square). The third stage of the project comprised of demolition of the tower’s parking floor and the application of a polyurea floor designated for parking floors.
- Constructor:Reshef Group
- Entrepreneur:King David Tower Management Company
- Supervisor:David Raz Managment, Coordination and Supervision
- Stone consultant:Engineer Arye Vishengrad
- Length:24 months -- not yet delivered
- Client:King David Tower and Dan Hotels chain
Challenges
- Executing a project in a populated residential building
- Design and assembly of scaffold systems according to the unique geometry of the structure
- Design, location, production and importing of granite tiles according to customer’s requirements
- Installation of roofing systems and protection on glass ceilings and the common pool area
- Coordination between the needs of the tower’s tenants and those of the adjacent Dan Tel Hotel
Steps
Stage A:
- Complete stripping of the mosaic and plaster layers until reaching bare concrete
- Demolition of disintegrating concrete parts until exposing all the rusted rebars
- Reconstruction of concrete elements by applying Mr. Fix Ardex system R4.
- New application of marine-resistant plaster layers
- Application of Togama mosaic tiles identical to those in the famous Simona building in Monte Carlo (Principality of Monaco)
- Sealing and retiling the pool area
Stage B:
- Dismantling of the red granite tiles down to the bare concrete
- Worldwide search for red granite quarries Finding a quarry in central Ukraine
- Laser measurements, preparation of production and cutting plans, quality assurance and delivery to Israel
- Sealing the concrete facades in the world’s most advanced crystalline sealing system by Penteron
- Re-installation of granite tiles
Stage C:
- Demolition of old parking floors
- Polishing and milling the concrete base for optimal bonding to the new system
- Application of a tensile polyurea coating system for parking floors with crack bridging capacity of 85%