AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: High-Rise Category

Eden Roc Hotel

Miami Beach, Florida

Submitted by BASF Building Systems

The two ceramic-tiled, 30 ft wide by 140 ft tall towers framing the front elevation of the Eden Roc hotel in Miami, Florida, had become debonded. A preliminary evaluation by others indicated massive debonding with a severe potential of fall from the building. There appeared to be only one solution: complete removal and replacement with a cost of over $1,600,000 and many months of disruptive reconstruction.

Engineers performed a detailed evaluation using Impact Echo supplemented with core extractions to determine the viability of an alternate method of repair. Due to the influence of the historic South Beach district surrounding the hotel, a nondestructive method of reestablishing the bond and structural integrity was essential. Conventional epoxy injection was considered, however, the pressure of the injection process could have pushed the tile further away. Gravity feed epoxy injection would not have adequate coverage. Thus, a combination of vacuum injection enhanced with direct pinning was evaluated.

The design proposed by the engineers reestablishes structural integrity of both the tile and the grout by pinning the tile/grout component to the backup CMU component and filling all voids with a Portland cement enriched methylmethacrylate (MMA). Pins were placed throughout the entire facade at 24 in. spacing and ports were inserted into 3/8 in. holes which served as both a vacuum exit and an entry to introduce the MMA. 

With the completion of the tile repair and restoration, full structural integrity has been restored. The walls were retested with Impact Echo to verify establishment of full contact, all of which was completed at a cost of $550,000—less than half the cost of the originally proposed removal and replacement!

Owner
Capital Hotel Management
Beverly, Massachusetts

Project Engineer/
Designer
Tadjer-Cohen-Edelson Associates, Inc.
Silver Spring, Maryland

Repair Contractors
C.A. Lindman, Inc.
Pompano Beach, Florida

Balvac
East Aurora, New York

Material Supplier
Fox Industries
Baltimore, Maryland