Dip into a Pool-Pleasureworld – South Germany's largest indoor water-park has opened


To go to the swimming-pool to swim a few lengths of the 25 metre pool – that's a thing of the past. Nowadays, indoor water-parks are wanted that appeal to the whole family, from the children to the grand-parents.

Just a few months ago in Ulm, a new water-park like this was opened, covering six main aspects: sport, spa, leisure, recreation, food and open-air activities. Naturally, such a project is a challenge for any tiling contractor. Three Ulm companies came together in a co-operative and produced a masterpiece.

The "Atlantisbad" project – an overview
With more than a dozen different water areas, a sauna, health and fitness section as well as a range of gastronomic facilities, the Atlantisbad, named after the legendary ancient island, is the largest and most modern leisure facility of its type in South Germany. Another superlative can be applied to the short construction time.

From when the ground was first broken in August 1977 to the topping-out ceremony in May 1998, through to the opening in December 1998, not even fourteen months went by. The Atlantisbad has almost 5,000m² of water surface to offer, divided into end-to-end depth of 1.65 to 1.85 metres. The sauna area is equipped with cabins an outdoor cold-water pools and offers classic Finnish and Roman saunas, a Turkish bath and a Moroccan salt mud-bath. Health and fitness areas offer not only the possibility for relaxation, but also for physical training.

Installation of the ceramics
For the laying of the tiles, the installation companies shared the contract and, working as a co-operative, contributed to the on-time completion of the Atlantis project. The responsible project-leader was very strongly supported by an adviser from the brand codex. Construction recommendations specially tailored to the site conditions, as well as constant project support, provided the confidence to give a fast and good response.

Preparation work in the pool areas
Before the installation work could begin, a 14-day test programme was needed to determine the water-tightness of the pools. From this, points in the concrete were noted that needed proper corrective treatment. For this, the installation team used the codex NC 350, a fine repair mortar ready for covering very early. They are ideally suited for time-restricted screed repairs and for small areas where the mixing of cement and sand on site is not practical.

Thorough substrate preparation
As a wall cladding, Buchtal 240 x 115 mm split tiles were selected. Here also there were tricky situations: for example, the design of the installation in the childrens pools with baby-dips and play-areas, was very time-consuming. To seal the substrate and to bind dust, the wall and floor surfaces were treated with codex Fliesengrund, a protective dispersion-based primer. The actual tiling installation was with codex Power Flex Turbo, a highly plasticised and rapid-setting cement-based thin-bed mortar.

Designing the entrance area
In the entrance area of Atlantis were laid approx. 600m² of 30 x 30 cm fine stoneware tiling form the manufacturer Briare. As a fast and reliable installation was also required for this relatively large format, the installation team used  the codex Fließbettmörtel, a free-flowing, highly plasticised thin-bed mortar.



Uzin Utz AG
Ulrike Juza
Dieselstraße 3
D-89079 Ulm

Telephone  +49 (0)731 4097-303
Telefax  +49 (0)731 4097-108
E-Mail    presse@uzin-utz.com