Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Inhouse: Martin Renz
(Projektmanagement Bahnhöfe BVG)

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Working with Mosa was not new for Leuenberger. Nevertheless, he still loves it: “If Mosa builds the fundament of a concept, this means an ideal basis, and everything can become even more beautiful.” The Kornblume wholefood shop is the living proof of what Leuenberger means with his statement…

Safe travel: Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe uses Mosa tiles for their underground stations

583 million people – that’s how many passengers used the Berlin underground, operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) in 2019 alone. If you adjust this to the 175 stations, it means: 3,3 million people enter each station every year. An enormous load for the infrastructure, mainly the floors: more than one billion shoes, the wheels of luggage, bikes, scooters and more leave their marks day by day.

Nevertheless, the stations should look well-maintained a stay in good shape for a long time. No easy task for the “Sachgebiet Projektmanagement Bahnhöfe” of the BVG. The team around the architect Martin Renz is the internal architecture and planning agency of the BVG. Here, 20 architects and engineers take care of the planning for new underground stations as well as the renovation of existing ones – setting hard requirements for the materials in the interest of the passengers as well as the company.

These requirements were the starting point for the cooperation with the Dutch tile manufacturer Royal Mosa. Already in 2015, the first station, “Lipschitzallee”, was equipped with Mosa tiles; meanwhile, the Royal Mosa tiles have been defined as the standard floor material for the BVG. Martin Renz took this decision based on several criteria: “The Slip resistance, longevity, but also the timeless design of the Mosa tiles really convinced us.”

When selecting relevant materials, the BVG doesn’t rely only on legal norms and standards. Often enough, the company goes further, using its own tests. Renz and his team want to be sure that the materials are able to stand the loads for a long time. Thus, they cleaned the tiles with the hardest detergents, because “it is imperative for us to use a material, which we can clean without residues”, explains Renz.

Mainly, the BVG uses tiles from the Core Collection: Quartz, Terra and Solids, all in dark grey with a light grey contrast. This underlines the plain, discreet elegance of the tiles. At the same time, they are less susceptible to dirt. In addition, the BVG uses different formats of the tiles. Most floors are equipped with tiles in the sizes of 60 x 60 cm and 60 x 90 cm, sometimes, the BVG also uses the 30 x 60 cm size. Martin Renz is pleased: “The different formats, which we can play with, give us manyfold options. This is great.”

The Mosa tiles easily fulfil the requirements for slip resistance: R10 or R11 according to the tile and the individual needs – and this is guaranteed for 30 years. Another convincing argument for the BVG.

Although functionality is key, Martin Renz also puts strong focus on aesthetics: “Our stations have been built in very different times and are characterized by a large architectural variety. The Mosa tiles are elegant and plain, but they are also timeless. Thus, they neatly fit into the ambience of each station without pushing their way into the foreground.”

Currently, 10 stations are either already equipped with Mosa tiles or in the building phase, more are in planning. Each project is individually adapted to the requirements of the respective station, the exact compilation of tiles changes every time. “For us, each station has its own history – and thus needs its own solution. As part of this solution, Mosa is a reliable partner for us, fulfilling our requirements for functionality and design in an ideal way,” summarizes Martin Renz his experience.