Edition Sofia 2005

The "Red House" is a special place whose history goes back to the beginning of the last century. It has been the atelier of Andrej Nikolov, one of Bulgaria's most famous sculptors.

It was renovated in 2004 with the support of ISOVER Bulgaria which donated all insulating materials. After its renovation, the house became the famous Centre for Culture and Debate.

Robert Schild, ISOVER's Manager for Acoustics, Thermal and Fire Insulation as well as chairman of the Jury personally presented the awards and congratulated the winners. The ceremony attracted serious media attention.

The task for the International Saint-Gobain Student Contest in 2005 was to make a submission for the Mountain Hotel which fulfilled the thermal insulation requirements of a "passive house" building.

The assignment has been chosen according to ISOVER's values, in order to provide safe comfort for users and to help to protect the environment.

The task was worked out in close cooperation with the Architectural University in Sofia.

Details of the task in 2005

To make the contest as realistic as possible, an existing project site in the Bulgarian city Bansko was used.
Bansko is one of the fastest-growing ski resorts in Bulgaria, with typical ancient architecture - a town that gives a feeling of authenticity and history, due to its special Renaissance atmosphere set in the beautiful nature scene of the Pirin Mountains.

The contestants had to include precise thermal insulation calculations and details of the basic building parts in their projects. Furthermore, various energy saving systems had to be integrated. A good knowledge of the ISOVER product range was required as well. To provide assistance on that subject, ISOVER held lectures on Thermal and Sound Insulations at the local Architectural Universities. Since then, many universities have included these courses in the official curriculum.

Type of construction, technical paramters

Urban-planning requirements:
- Site area - 5500 m2
- Building density 60 %. Maximal built area 3300 m2. Recommended build area 3000 m2
- Intensity coefficient 1.2. Maximal gross floor area 5500 m2 x 1.2 = 6600 m2. This should be the area of all used levels above ground.
- Floors: basement and ground floor above the terrain, two floors and possibly under the roof.
- Green area (planted with trees and shrub) 40 %

Common requirements for the project:
- Resort hotel for year-round use.
- The hotel has to correspond to the international requirements of a 4-star hotel.
- Hotel capacity: 100 beds

Bed distribution:
- 38 double rooms
- 4 two-roomed suites
- 4 three-roomed suites
Service blocks should be planned for the full capacity of the hotel.
- Nutrition block
- Restaurant for 100 guests
- Breakfast hall for 100 people
- Night club for 40-50 people
- Lobby bar for 40-50 people

Transport services:
- The hotel has to be equipped with necessary separate entrances for different blocks
- Parking spaces for 30 cars and 3 buses should be provided
- 20-30 parking spaces should be planned in the basement
- All technical premises have to be situated in the basement and transport access has to be provided in case of need
- Some sport facilities could be placed in the basement as well

Park planning:
The untilled area should be developed as a park with free access for the hotel guests, organized around a pool.

Size parameters:
- Double hotel room round 23 m2
- Antechamber round 2 m2
- Bathroom round 6 m2
- Balcony round 3-4 m2
- Two-room suite 60 m2
- Three-room suite 80 m2
- Corridor width - entrances on both sides  1.70 m
- Corridor width - entrances only on one side 1.50 m
- Hotel rooms height 2.70 m minimum
- Bathrooms height 2.30 m minimum
- Height of the trade and nutrition blocks 3.20 m minimum

The following passive house standards should be taken into consideration:
- Thermal insulation for the construction < 0,15 W/m2К and
- Thermal insulation for the windows <  0,75.
- Other requirements, concerning passive house standards could be developed by the participant's decision.

All participants should apply predominantly ISOVER insulation products in their projects.