Fireplace as a luxury
Building a house for wealthy people is not an easy task, and in order for the apartments to be sold, the house must differ from its “elite” class brothers in something special, unique, offer a certain way of life, emotional saturation. And this is understandable, buyers of elite residential real estate have high requirements for the quality, comfort of housing and its particularity.
In Russia, housing with fireplaces has always been a privilege available to the elite. And today, developers of urban elite housing, seeking to interest the wealthy public, order architects to design houses where the apartments are equipped with wood-burning fireplaces.
Buyers of apartments with fireplaces are special people who prefer to live in the historical part of the city, but at the same time with the advantages of suburban life. And if fireplaces in apartments on the upper floors are quite common practice, found even in residential complexes of the "business" class, then the idea of "a fireplace in each apartment" is categorically incompatible with domestic building codes. To build a house with fireplaces on all floors, the customer's ambitions, the professionalism of the architect and competent technical solutions must converge. Such houses have already appeared in the center of Moscow.
An attribute of the highest luxury - a wood-burning fireplace is received by buyers of apartments in the Bakst house in Bolshoy Kozikhinsky Lane in Moscow, which is on the now fashionable Patrick. The house of two volumes combines a modern interpretation of Art Nouveau and Moscow brick classics. The project, carried out by the GRAN architectural bureau under the direction of Pavel Andreev, demonstrates the unity of the stylistic preferences of the customer and the architect.
The chief architect of the Bakst House project, Oleg Dryabzhinsky, says that the presence of fireplaces in each apartment was one of the features of this project from the very beginning: it was one of the points of the technical assignment. “Our building codes only allow fireplaces in top-floor apartments. When designing the house, it was necessary to provide for compensation measures in the structure of the building, certain conditions for the passage of chimneys through apartments, and develop special technical conditions. By that time, we already knew Schiedel products and the multilayer technology by which chimneys are manufactured at the factory. It was they who met the requirements of the STU, and the expertise did not have any questions about this technical solution, "- comments the GAP Bureau" GRAN ".
In another elite Moscow object, a residential complex
WINE HOUSE on Sadovnicheskaya Street, designed by the architects of SPEECH and TPO "Reserve", loft apartments in a red brick building are equipped with fireplaces. Built in 1888-1889 by the supplier of the royal court, the famous "vodka king" Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov, the industrial building was built in a square of white volumes of different heights, contrasting with color and texture. Each of the apartments in the reconstructed historic building has fireplaces. Chimneys for the installation of fireplaces are also installed in the apartments of the upper floors of the newly designed residential sections. And here Schiedel UNI was preferred to other chimneys.
Ceramic chimneys from Schiedel UNI have been selected and incorporated into the Bakst and WINE HOUSE projects for a reason: they not only meet the highest safety requirements, but significantly exceed them. The chimney is a multilayer system with a core in the form of a ceramic tube with a set of properties that allow the use of any type of fuel. Ceramics can withstand high temperatures, such as when soot ignites, which is 1000 degrees, and the effect of aggressive acids during condensation of flue gases. Segments of basalt insulation are laid around the ceramic shaft; it protects the outer shell of expanded clay concrete from overheating. The casing, in addition to static stability, has a special configuration that removes excess heat and moisture along the entire length of the system. The chimney is assembled easily and quickly, like a designer.
Schiedel also takes care of high-quality installation: delivery, unloading, storage at the construction site, installation of chimneys is carried out only by trained teams. The design of the chimneys, the materials used and the assembly method ensure reliability and durability.
The choice in favor of UNI in two significant Moscow projects was influenced by the fact that all technical parameters and characteristics are confirmed by European certificates and flawless 30-year operation in Europe and 15-year operation in Russia. Developers and management companies of houses in which Schiedel ceramic chimneys are installed may not remember the smoke exhaust system for many years, and apartment residents can enjoy a live fire in the center of the metropolis.
Place matters
The idea of a live fire in a house is so exciting that owners of individual houses are especially passionate about it. For example, according to some studies, about 75% of owners of low-rise houses would like to have a fireplace or stove, who see the fireplace as the center of the house, next to the sofa or dining table, where the whole family gathers to spend time with delicious food, playing together, having an interesting conversation or a movie.
The size of the living space always matters, and for country houses, Schiedel has the compact KINGFIRE systems, which occupy a special place among other products of the German manufacturer - these are wood-burning fireplaces that are one piece with the chimney.
The idea of the system developers was to integrate the fireplace directly into the chimney, and thus to optimize the occupied space and to simplify the installation and installation work as much as possible. And they did it. The chimney is not located behind the firebox, as is the case in traditional fireplaces, but serves as its direct continuation, which requires significantly less space. And there is very little space for the chimney, its cross section is only 36 by 50 centimeters, it is necessary in the rooms of the upper floors, through which it goes to the roof. The compact two-in-one design leaves more usable floor space, which is a significant argument for a fireplace in a small home. And finally, the installation of the fireplace system during the construction of the house is carried out by a crane, which simply puts it in the place provided for by the project.
And of course, innovation. The fireplace system can be connected in such a way that it will not take oxygen from the room. Through a special nozzle, combustion air will enter the fireplace from the outside, directly from the street. The airtight self-closing door of the firebox maintains a healthy air composition in the living quarters, it also prevents soot and smoke from entering the house.
The versatile design of Schiedel KINGFIRE will suit a wide range of living spaces, and five models, including an exclusive option that provide three-sided visibility of the fire, give you plenty of choice. But the door of the combustion chamber in all models is made at the same height, convenient for placing firewood.
The pleasure from the sight of living fire is from the category of special ones. You can enjoy the play of flames by the fire under the starry sky, or you can be accompanied by the crackling of logs in the fireplace in a country house or in a city apartment, where it is important to ensure safety and reliability. This is a reason to think about Schiedel solutions.
