From the Sector

Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. (Koch), a global leader in membrane filtration technologies, announced its PURON® Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR) modules have been selected for the Ji’nan Wastewater Treatment Plant I and Plant II Expansion Project. Each plant will have 100,000 m3/day treating capacity. The site is located in the Shandong province, which is China’s second-most populated province, with over 100 million people. This project continues the strong presence of Koch’s PURON® MBR in various municipal and industrial wastewater treatment projects in China, demonstrating exceptional performance and creating value to clients.

Strict new discharge requirements by the Chinese government are forcing municipalities to upgrade or build their wastewater treatment plants using new technologies. PURON® MBR technology was selected for these two new plants for its reliable and consistent effluent quality, adherence to new discharge limits, and reduced footprint compared to conventional wastewater treatment technology.

These wastewater treatment plants will be built and operated by China Everbright Water Limited Co. Ltd, a company principally engaged in construction and operation of integrated environmental water services. The project is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2018.

“We have had good experience with Koch Membrane Systems PURON® MBR technology in the 55,000 m3/day Beijing Daxing Tiantanghe Waste Water Treatment Project,” said Mr. Wang Huailin, president of Jiangsu Kaimi Membrane Technology Co. Ltd, who will design, build and supply the membrane system for these plants. “Since the 2016 Beijing plant startup, the PURON® membranes have been used in an underground construction model to provide a pollution-free installation. We have been impressed with the low fouling and low operating costs from the PURON® product, due to its unique single header and central aeration design features and the process expertise Koch brings to the table.”

“Koch has developed advanced membrane solutions for the municipal and industrial market segments,” said Mr. Manny Singh, president of Koch Membrane Systems. “Unique features of our PURON® product help the market treat wastewater to meet strict discharge and reuse targets with a low cost of ownership. We are excited that Everbright Water Group recognized the benefits of our PURON® product in their existing plant and selected us for their flagship new projects.”

OutDoor2018: Schoeller’s coldblack® technology has been specifically optimized for use on knitted and woven fabrics so brands can now expand their product application uses. Under the blazing sun, textiles with coldblack® heat up less and stay cool to the touch. Südwolle Group, a leading manufacturer of high quality yarns, has also recognized the ideal combination of merino and coldblack®. With this, the wear comfort of wool apparel can be tangibly improved.

Wool is well known for its various property benefits, including insulation, natural antibacterial protection, odor control, light weight and nearly wrinkle free composition. Not only in the winter time, but also in summer particularly merino wool, a special high-quality type of wool, regulates moisture balance and thus the body temperature. The fibers can absorb a great deal of moisture or sweat and transport it away from the body. Warm ambient air quickly dries the material and causes a cooling evaporation, which makes it very comfortable to wear merino apparel in the summer time.

coldblack® technology from Schoeller supports the natural properties of wool because it reliably reduces heat build-up when exposed to the sun. Together with the help of Südwolle Group, the finish has been optimized specifically for the use in merino apparel. The yarn manufacturer chooses coldblack® for a variety of uses, especially for knitting and weaving yarns for sports and outdoor apparel and develops such products individually according to its customers’ requirements.

Stéphane Thouvay, Managing Director Product Management & Innovation at Südwolle Group, summarizes the use of the technology as follows: “coldblack® is part of our product range for the summer time, which we will be presenting at OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen. The technology reduces not only heat build-up, but also enhances the natural UV protection of wool without affecting the look and feel of the fabric. Therefore coldblack® perfectly fits into our yarn selection for sports and outdoor apparel, for example in our collection ʻYarn in Motion’. For end consumers garments made of coldblack® yarns can optionally be labeled with hangtags.”

When used in high-quality woolen fabrics, coldblack® has already proven its performance and is being used by renowned brands in various collections of men’s suits. Since 2008, the technology has been licensed by more than 200 brands, in sports particularly in the field of cycling, triathlon and golf. All components of the finish are bluesign® approved.

Exhibiting at this week’s Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Annual Conference, Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified laundries provided nearly 200 copies of a training video guiding caregivers in improving soiled linen handling performance.

Provided on a flash drive: the 13-minute video (The Six Cs: Handling Soiled Linen in a Healthcare Environment), a quiz to immediately assess viewers’ grasp of the video’s lessons and posters to reinforce these year-round. Distributed since 2016, the video has been hailed for its value in aiding compliance with OSHA universal precautions regarding items saturated with blood, bodily fluids, harmful residue from treatments and other potentially infectious material.

The flash drive offer intrigued infection preventionists (IPs) from a single facility or those responsible for this function throughout health systems, whether acute or outpatient care environments or both. The drive also attracted the attention of other professionals who visited the Hygienically Clean exhibit, such as federal and state health officials and suppliers of products and services to the IP profession.

Distributing the flash drive is a hallmark of the Hygienically Clean program’s philosophy of addressing healthcare providers’ operational needs outside the scope of outsourced laundries’ traditional functions. Certified operators’ certification fees provide funding for creating and distributing the video and other education tools for healthcare facilities.

Visitors to the Minneapolis display who previously received the video vouched for its effectiveness. Certified laundries have individually distributed the flash drive to customers and prospects in addition to  their collective effort to provide them at previous APIC and Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) expos.

The video’s easy-to-follow steps improve infection control and patient care and reduce costs by addressing OSHA-required universal precautions. Employees who handle soiled linen (usually nurses and environmental services staff) must assume all human blood and potentially infectious materials they touch are infected, because they can’t be sure which patients are infected or what infections are present.

Adhering to the six Cs (cover, collect, contain, consolidate, clean, cooperate) each day prevents injury and reduces the risk of spreading of infection to co-workers, patients and residents. These positive outcomes are only achieved when workers first protect themselves.

The flash drive is available to all healthcare providers at no cost. It also contains the Hygienically Clean standard and other guidance documents for infection preventionists related to linen and uniforms. Among these documents: Handling Clean Linen in a Healthcare Environment, an 8-page guide to safeguarding through effective transportation, storage and distribution.

Linen, uniform and facility services operators certified Hygienically Clean Healthcare presented evidence today to members of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) that medical care facilities should more carefully control public wearing of employee uniforms.

Engaging visitors to the Hygienically Clean exhibit at APIC’s 2018 expo, certification staff had a receptive audience for the data. Most attendees interviewed indicated they support preventing employees from wearing scrubs and other healthcare apparel outside medical facilities. Many said they have policies to this effect but find these difficult to enforce.

The 3-day APIC exhibit is building awareness of Hygienically Clean certified providers among infection preventionists: individuals who recommend what linen and uniform service their facilities should use. Discussing issues with them such as uniform hygiene positions certified operators as the foremost laundry science experts with an unprecedented commitment to educating healthcare professionals regarding linen and laundry.

Visitors to the Hygienically Clean exhibit received Curbing the Infection Risks of Healthcare Garments, a brief compendium of studies and journal articles that point to the risk-reduction value of professionally laundering employees’ garments, worth the additional cost to a healthcare facility that currently makes employees responsible for washing them.

Hygienically Clean staff noted that TRSA, the global association for the linen and uniform industry that administers the certification program, has begun planning to raise the issue’s profile with healthcare industry stakeholders. TRSA’s Healthcare Committee has formed a task force on the matter. Staff has contacted TRSA associate members (suppliers to the industry) who manufacture scrubs, lab coats and other healthcare employee garments to explore promoting a new voluntary standard that would urge medical providers to prevent wearing these in public.

An Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) standard currently performs this role regarding garments worn in surgical suites. TRSA will weigh the possibility of supporting creation of a much broader measure, covering all clinical functions with discernible risk of pathogen transmission from healthcare garments to patients and the public.

As TRSA investigates courses of action, hoping to involve such stakeholder groups, Hygienically Clean certified providers will continue to point to the mounting evidence of the risks of garments carrying pathogens out of healthcare facilities and inadequate domestic laundering bringing them in.

In contrast, contracting with a Hygienically Clean provider, whose processes (laundry practices) are verified and outcomes (product cleanliness) are quantified by third parties, provides maximum confidence that all garments used in a healthcare setting have diminished presence of harmful bacteria. It’s a cost-effective way to essentially eliminate this single risk of infection transmission, unlike so many others that require preventionists to constantly guard against.

Die „ZiTex-Textil & Mode NRW“ hatte am 12. Juni zu einem Pressetermin Düsseldorfer Flughafen eingeladen. Unter dem Motto ‚Textil erobert die Luft‘ eröffnete Detlef Braun, Leiter der ZiTex mit einem Brancheneinblick die Veranstaltung. Nach zwei informativen Vorträgen der Unternehmen ANKER und SAERTEX gab es die Gelegenheit in der Lufthansawerft die Anwendung der technischen Textilien in zwei Maschinen vom Typ A330 (Langstrecke) und A320 aus der Nähe zu begutachten.

Hightech-Textilien zum Anfassen
Bereits der erste Blick in die Wartungshalle des Hangar 7 sorgte für großes Staunen: Die imposante Lufthansa Maschine des Typus A330, die fast täglich von Düsseldorf nach New York fliegt, steht dienstags zu Wartungsarbeiten im Hangar und bot die perfekte Kulisse, sich die Hightech-Textilien einmal aus der Nähe anzuschauen. Das war sowohl für die Veranstalter als auch die Pressevertreter eine ganz neue Erfahrung. „Ich freue mich sehr, dass wir mit dieser Veranstaltung die innovative Textilindustrie so informativ, praxisnah und erlebnisreich präsentieren konnten“, sagt Detlef Braun begeistert: „Veranstaltungen wie diese tragen dazu bei, den Hightech-Charakter der Branche nachhaltig zu verdeutlichen. Textil ist Zukunft! Dies wurde am Beispiel des Flugzeugs heute mehr als deutlich.“

Ruhig & Robust – Airline Teppichböden
Für das Unternehmen ANKER, traditionsreicher Webteppichboden-Spezialist mit Sitz im rheinischen Düren, referierte Alexander von Fuchs-Nordhoff, Sales Director, über den Einsatz der Teppichböden in Flugzeugen. Zum 50. Jubiläum in diesem Jahr der ANKER Teppiche in der Luftfahrt passte das Event ganz besonders, wurde der erste ANKER Airline Teppich 1968 in einer Lufthansa Maschine verlegt. Dabei gibt es die unterschiedlichsten Varianten der Material-Beschaffung und -Verarbeitung sowie Anbringung der Teppiche. Besonders innovativ: der leichteste Teppich in einem Flugzeug überhaupt, der mit 800 Gramm pro Quadratmeter um die Hälfte leichter ist als die herkömmlichen Varianten und damit deutliche Kerosin-Einsparungen ermöglicht. Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit international renommierten Architekten und Innenarchitekten liegen ANKER Teppichböden weltweit sowohl in Flugzeugen als auch in unzähligen Bürogebäuden, Hotels und öffentlichen Gebäuden. Neben der Kreativität setzt ANKER branchenweit Maßstäbe für Nachhaltigkeit und Innovation.

Stabil & Energiesparend – Tragflächen & Strukturbauteile
Steven Bakker, Global Director Business Unit New Products & New Markets von SAERTEX, einem Familienunternehmen, das Weltmarktführer in der Herstellung von Carbongelegen ist, präsentierte deren unterschiedliche Einsatzbereiche im Flugzeug: in den Tragflächen, der Druckkalotte sowie Stringerelemente und Verkleidungsteile und erläuterte, welchen besonderen Gegebenheiten die Materialien standhalten müssen. Insbesondere die Luftfahrt setzt auf solche Composites, die durch Verstärkungsmaterialien aus Glas-, Carbon- und Aramid-Fasern an Leichtigkeit, Stabilität und Korrosionsbeständigkeit gewinnen. Als Weltneuheit konnte Saertex im März dieses Jahres auf der JEC WORLD 2018 in Paris, der Fachmesse für Verbundwerkstoffe, ein Verfahren vorstellen, das Carbon Gelege automatisch, kontinuierlich und ohne Zerstörung auf Schäden, Lücken und Krümmungen prüft. Airbus setzt dieses Verfahren zur Materialprüfung bereits in Serie ein.

Einblicke in die Praxis vermittelte die Lufthansa Technik
Im Hangar Nr. 7 der Lufthansa Technik erfuhren die Presseteilnehmer viele Details von Wartungsleiter, Sascha Bongartz. Die Lufthansa Technik Gruppe ist ein Geschäftsfeld der Deutschen Lufthansa AG rund um die Themen Wartung und Überholung von Flugzeugen, Geräteversorgung, Triebwerke, Fahrwerke und VIP-Services. Mit 50 Standorten auf der ganzen Welt und 26.700 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern – davon rund 11.000 in Deutschland – ist die Lufthansa Weltmarktführer im Bereich luftfahrttechnischer Dienstleistungen.

Als erster Hersteller aus Bangladesch ist Denim Expert Limited der Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) beigetreten und wird den Higg Index, das Tool der Vereinigung zur Messung von Nachhaltigkeit, nutzen, um ökologische und soziale Verantwortung in seiner gesamten Wertschöpfungskette voranzutreiben.

Mit seiner Mitgliedschaft im SAC schließt sich Denim Expert mehr als 220 globalen Marken, Einzelhändlern und Herstellern, sowie Regierungs- und gemeinnützigen Umweltorganisationen und akademischen Institutionen an (inklusive Adidas, Puma, American Eagle, Disnep, G- Star, Levis, Gap, Aldo, United Colors of Benetton, Inditex, C & A, Esprit, H & M, American Apparel & Footwear Foundation, GIZ, WWF usw.), die sich gemeinsam dafür einsetzen, die Nachhaltigkeit in der Lieferkette in der Bekleidungs-, Schuh- und Textilindustrie verbessern.

Der Geschäftsführer von Denim Expert Ltd, Mostafiz Uddin, meint dazu: "Wir freuen uns, dem SAC beizutreten, denn wir sind davon überzeugt, dass es sich langfristig positiv auf die Produktnachhaltigkeit auswirkt und ein Beispiel dafür ist, wie Unternehmen die Wertschöpfungskette positiv beeinflussen können. "

Als Mitglied des SAC wird Denim Expert sowohl Daten als auch Ressourcen zur Unterstützung des Higg Index zur Verfügung stellen, der die Nachhaltigkeitsleistung misst und die Lieferkettentransparenz und Entscheidungsfindung zur Verbesserung der Effizienz und der Nachhaltigkeit fördert. Der Higg Index ist eine auf Indikatoren basierende Reihe von Tools, die es Lieferanten, Herstellern, Marken und Einzelhändlern ermöglichen, Materialien, Produkte, Einrichtungen und Prozesse basierend auf Umweltperformance, Sozialleistungen und Wahl des Produktdesigns zu bewerten.
"Wir begrüßen es sehr, dass Denim Expert Ltd nun zur Sustainable Apparel Coalition gehört, und freuen uns auf ihre Teilnahme an diesem branchenweiten Bemühen um mehr Nachhaltigkeit", sagt SAC-CEO Jason Kibbey. "Mit Denim Expert als Teil der Koalition vergrößern wir unsere Reichweite in der Branche und beschleunigen den Wandel hin zu einem verantwortungsvollen Umgang in der Industrie."

Über die Sustainable Apparel Coalition:
Die Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) ist eine branchenweite Gruppe von über 220 führenden Bekleidungs-, Schuh- und Textilunternehmen, Marken, Einzelhändlern, Lieferanten, Dienstleistern, Wirtschaftsverbänden, Nonprofits /NGOs und akademischen Einrichtungen, die sich dafür einsetzen, die Auswirkungen ihrer Produkte auf die Umwelt und sozialen Bedingungen auf der ganzen Welt zu reduzieren. Durch das Engagement der verschiedenen Interessensgruppen versucht die SAC, die Branche zu einer gemeinsamen Vision von Nachhaltigkeit zu führen, die auf einem gemeinsamen Ansatz zur Messung und Bewertung von Nachhaltigkeit von Bekleidung, Schuhen und Textilien basiert und Prioritäten für Maßnahmen und Möglichkeiten für technologische Innovationen aufzeigt. Der SAC wurde als 501c (6) Non-Profit-Organisation eingegliedert und lancierte 2011 die bahnbrechende Higg Index Tools. Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter: www.apparelcoalition.org

California Linen Services of Pasadena, Calif. has been recertified Clean Green, reflecting the company’s dedication to standards for operational efficiency and sustainability. The certification quantifies linen, uniform and facility services’ environmentally friendly performance by confirming an operation launders within TRSA-designated water and energy use thresholds; and verifies use of best management practices (BMPs) in line with the ASTM International environmental laundering standard.
 
California Linen Service’s customers can be assured their reusable healthcare textiles are washed, dried and finished with processes that maximize sustainability and reduce greenhouse emissions. Clean Green certified operations demonstrate significant commitment to conservation and green operations through these BMPs:

• Recovering heat from drained hot water and heat dispersed from the process of warming water
• Recapturing drained water from rinses for reuse
• Using environmentally friendly detergents
• Removing solids and liquids from wastewater
• Solar energy and energy-efficient lighting
• Recycling programs
• Re-routing trucks to save vehicle fuel
• Spill prevention plans

California Linen Service earned the Clean Green certification initially in 2015. The designation is valid for three years at a time. TRSA inspects laundry facilities seeking certification and approves documentation of their water and energy use and BMP deployment through production reports they submit to auditors during the inspections. TRSA’s certification management protocol includes auditor training by the association’s inspection program administrator.
Clean Green aligns with the ASTM International standard, Guide for Sustainable Laundry Practices, which recognizes key criteria for the certification as universal indicators of maximum sustainability in commercial laundry work. ASTM’s review of TRSA BMPs verified these as the most effective and practical techniques for a laundry to achieve green objectives.
TRSA members prompted development of the standard, which was vetted in the sustainability subcommittee of the ASTM Committee on Textiles. Top technical experts, scientists and environmental professionals from outside the linen, uniform and facility services industry reviewed the BMPs. ASTM is the global leader in developing and delivering voluntary consensus standards unparalleled in building consumer confidence in product and service quality.
 
“I applaud California Linen Services for their ongoing sustainability efforts and maintaining the highest standards in their production and delivery operations,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “Meeting all the criteria for certification is not easy, but the company is committed to industry-leading processes and technologies.”

• Fibres for automotive composites, technical textiles, hygiene and medical nonwovens
• UltraLink fibres offer sustainable system cost reduction solutions to the automotive industry
• Meralux offers improved liquid management for a dry feeling
• Stand 2034, ANEX 2018, 6-8 June, Tokyo Big Sight, Japan

Beaulieu Fibres International, the leading European polyolefin fibre supplier, marks its Asia Nonwovens Exhibition and Conference (ANEX) debut with unique products and capabilities to support innovation at a local level within the automotive and hygiene segments.

At Stand 2034, Beaulieu Fibres International demonstrates its commitment to the global market growth for automotive composites and technical textiles, as interest increases in adopting lightweight materials to reduce vehicle weight and fuel efficiency.

The company will present UltraLink bonding fibres that improve the mechanical, thermal and functional properties of the final part, allowing customers to meet OEM specific standards in a more sustainable way. They are available in both MONO and BICO technology – a first for the composites industry.

Jefrem Jennard, Global Sales Director – Industrial Fibres, comments: “Beaulieu Fibres International developed UltraLink fibres over the past two years to provide an answer to the automotive industry’s continuous strive for lower weight, lower emission, lower cost and better properties. They are being introduced in new global automotive programmes with SOP 2019-2021. We are delighted to introduce them to the Asian market at ANEX.”

At ANEX 2018, Beaulieu Fibres International also presents its platform of unique Meralux fibres offering significant improvements to the dryness of nonwoven for hygiene and medical applications. The BICO fibre has a special cross section, which enables it to provide bulk, opacity and enhanced fluid management compared to standard round fibres to nonwoven constructions. As a result, a dry feeling is achieved for the final nonwoven.

Petra Bohle-Stricker, Global Sales Director – Hygiene Fibres, comments: “As Asia Pacific heads towards becoming the largest regional tissue and hygiene market by the end of 2025  , nonwovens producers can already take advantage of the benefits of Meralux to launch new and innovative products that will grab the attention of global and local manufacturers. Visitors to our ANEX booth can experience Meralux fibres first-hand in nonwoven samples.”

Since Meralux was first launched in April 2017, the portfolio has expanded to include Meralux T and Meralux Soft. Beaulieu Fibres International is currently expanding its production programme with polyester-core (PET) BICO. In addition a pilot line for new developments is under construction. Both are expected to come on stream in 2018.

Attendees of the May 19-22 National Restaurant Show in Chicago learned that linen, uniform and facility services providers serving restaurants and other foodservice operations can be distinguished by earning third-party verification of their sustainability and cleanliness, as TRSA exhibited its Clean Green and Hygienically Clean Food Service certifications at the show.
More than 150 individuals viewed the exhibit, which screened a new animated video explaining the Clean Green designation. It’s now showing on TRSA’s YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-24iVCNRT0).

Depicting operations within a laundry, the video shows how contracting with a Clean Green certified provider delivers services restaurants need and gives them peace of mind from doing business with a sustainable provider. Clean Green operations comply with water and energy standards and demonstrate best management practices in supplying, laundering and maintaining textiles.

Visitors to the exhibit learned which providers serving these attendees’ home geographic areas are Clean Green certified and were encouraged to work with such a certified provider if not already doing so. Speaking with attendees also gave TRSA staff the opportunity to ask them about their experience with providers and, if currently under contract with one, its identity.

• 76 percent of those questioned indicate they currently use such a provider. Most could identify it by name
• 18 percent said they use an on-premises or home laundry for linen and uniform needs. Many of these respondents indicated they work for hotels, healthcare facilities, colleges or military bases with their own laundry equipment
• 6 percent said they use disposable products (napkins, wipers) instead of their reusable textile equivalents; most of these respondents are in quick-service restaurant operations

The TRSA display distributed copies of Sustainability: Finding the “New” Green in Your Restaurant Supply Chain, a 7-page guide to using a systematic approach to choose suppliers whose products/services are proven to be more sustainable than those of their competitors and whose own practices are more sustainable.

TRSA’s exhibit also kicked off a survey of restaurant management to determine their perceptions of table linen service as a plus for facility hygiene and service to diners. Results will help TRSA communicate to the restaurant industry the value of using Hygienically Clean Food Service certified providers in the hope that doing so becomes an industry standard.

Such certified laundries commit to cleanliness through third-party, quantified biological testing and inspection. This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify linens and uniforms cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and best management practices for servicing full- and limited-service restaurants, hotels, hospitals, educational institutions and other locations where food is handled and served.

ABOUT CLEAN GREEN
Clean Green certification recognizes linen, uniform and facility services companies that demonstrate responsible leadership in sustainability and conservation by acknowledging commitment to improving water and energy efficiency and adoption of best management practices for reusing, reclaiming and recycling resources. Certified operations meet quality standards for effectiveness in conserving resources and minimizing environmental impact. Customers that use Clean Green certified companies to supply, launder and maintain linens, uniforms, mats and other reusable textiles can be assured that their provider maximizes sustainable practices.

ABOUT HYGIENICALLY CLEAN
Hygienically Clean certification demonstrates linen, uniform and facility services companies’ commitment to cleanliness through independent, third-party laundry plant inspection and quantified microbial testing. Inspection and re-inspection verify that items are maintained, washed, dried, ironed, packed, transported and delivered using best management practices to meet key disinfection criteria. Between scheduled and supplemental inspections, ongoing microbial testing quantifies cleanliness and indicates laundry process adjustments.

Liberty Hotel in Offenburg

Wo früher Häftlinge hinter schweren Türen und Eisengittern ihre Strafe absaßen, herrscht heute Wohlfühlatmosphäre: Aus dem einstigen Offenburger Gefängnis wurde das Designhotel Liberty. Der Mix aus Original-Details, einem cleveren Lichtkonzept und hochwertigen Materialien verwandelte die ehemalige Strafanstalt in ein einzigartiges Objekt. Maßgefertigte Rollos und Dim Outs von drapilux erzeugen eine gemütliche Stimmung in verschiedenen Bereichen des Hotels.

Mehrere Jahre Planungs- und Bauphase waren erforderlich, den ehemals tristen Ort in ein Luxushotel mit 38 Zimmern und Suiten sowie großzügigen Aufenthaltsbereichen umzubauen. Verantwortlich für Konzept und Planung, die Gesamtgestaltung, Bauleitung und Generalunternehmung des kompletten Vorhabens zeichnet die Konrad Knoblauch GmbH aus Markdorf am Bodensee. „Bei der Umplanung galt es vor allem, das historische und bedrückende Erbe des Knastgebäudes mit der richtigen Portion an Unbeschwertheit zu versehen“, erläutert Katja Scharnagel, Projektverantwortliche bei Konrad Knoblauch. Für die Zimmer wurden hierzu beispielsweise zwei bis drei der beengten Zellen zusammengelegt und mit wohnlichen Elementen versehen. Die knapp 50 Dachfenster wurden mit passgenauen Faltrollos des drapilux-Artikels 795 bestückt und so zu angenehmen Lichtquellen.

Die alte Haftanstalt besteht aus zwei Backsteingebäuden, die heute die Hotelzimmer beherbergen. Verbunden werden die beiden Bauten nun durch einen transparenten Glaskubus. Darin befinden sich die Gemeinschaftsbereiche u. a. mit dem Spitzenrestaurant „Wasser & Brot“, einer Bar sowie der Lobby. „Eine Besonderheit in der Empfangshalle ist der „Teppich“. Er wurde nicht verlegt, sondern als Muster in den Betonboden eingefräst. An Gemütlichkeit fehlt es dennoch nicht“, erklärt Scharnagel das Konzept. Dazu erfolgte die Ausstattung äußerst sorgfältig – von Designerstücken bei der Möblierung bis zu bodentiefen Dim Outs (Artikel 243) aus dem Hause drapilux.