History and luxury are closely associated with one of the most famous buildings in the Slovenian coastal area. Construction work, based on architectural plans of Austrian Johann Eustacchio, began in 1908 at the time of Austro-Hungarian Empire and was completed in 1912. During that period the city of Portorož was one of the most important coastal resorts and spas on the "Austrian riviera" and the hotel was considered as a tourist attraction of the highest quality. Since then it hosted a number of famous people and events. In 1983 the building became a cultural heritage monument and the park in front of the hotel a natural heritage monument. Sadly, the hotel shut down in 1990 and was slowly decaying until the 2000s when Istrabenz Hoteli Portorož signed an agreement with Kempinski hotel chain to manage the hotel for at least 20 years.
Reconstruction of the hotel presented a challenge as the plan was to keep the historical aspect of the hotel as well as upgrading the building to a more modern and luxurious look & feel. The result was a new extension which is confluent with the surroundings and the old facility and forms an urban and design whole, still leaving the dominant role to the existing palace. This philosophy should demonstrate a harmonious coexistence and respect for the spiritual values to the observer, regardless of the fact that the objects were created in different time and style periods. With renovation costs exceeding 70 million euros, the hotel was finally reopened in 2008 and remains to be one of the most prominent buildings in Slovenia.
Rebuilding of the Kempinski Palace Hotel demanded more transparency and translucency so that it can come to the fore with all the greatness of the five-star hotel and also follow the rules for renovating historical buildings. Facility had almost no options for installing active fire protection systems (e.g. sprinklers), so a lot of care and attention was put into planning of passive fire protection. Once again, Promat's expertize and solutions came into play. The building was carefully divided into a number of fire compartments - hallways, stairways, elevators, shafts, ...et al. To this end, a fire-rated glazing system without profiles and SR doors with very narrow shapes, were integrated to separate the sections. Using Promat®-SYSTEMGLAS 30, a fire-resistant laminated safety glass, allowed for optimal light permeability and transparency. Horizontal fire glazing (walkable type) was also built-in. To prevent the spread of fire and smoke between the compartments, penetrations had to be protected. Installations with Promat systems were made. PROMASTOP®-CC, a water based fire stopping coating, was used to coat the horizontal cable ways, while PROMASTOP®-U fire collars were installed to protect the penetration of combustible and non-combustible pipes with combustible insulation through walls and floors. The whole fire stopping system provides fire resistance of up to 90 minutes. Where necessary, fire protection ducts fabricated entirely from PROMATECT®-AD fire protection boards, were installed.
