Among the various projects in Spain are the restorations and expansions (already accomplished or nearing completion) of several airports, all managed by the public business entity AENA: Madrid, Alicante, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Ciudad Real and others among which is Minorca, where Patt, a company of the Fantoni Group, has supervised the acoustics of the new departures area. Minorca is a popular tourist resort and its highly frequented airport requires sophisticated sound-absorption properties. The airport has wide open spaces which are vulnerable to acoustic pollution.
To combat this problem the sound-absorption products of Patt were chosen in a signed contract of EUR1.5m. The work started in June of this year and will include 8,000m2 of AP-Topakustik for the ceilings and 4,500m2 for the walls. The installation is scheduled to be finished by the time this edition of WBPI is published. Why AP-Topakustik? It is a sound-absorbing MDF product which is claimed to be among the most innovative available on the market. It is made up of sound-absorption strips and, besides allowing a high degree of sound absorption with good acoustics, the structure has an attractive appearance.
It is available in four different drilling and milling types (according to the required degree of absorption) and four different finishes (white, maple, beech and aluminium). The strips allow simple assembly with an even surface thanks to the absence of junctions. The product is thus said to be ideally suited to public halls, theatres, sports facilities, work and residential buildings. Installations already completed in Spain include the auditorium Oceanografique of the Ciudad de las Artes y de la Ciencias in Valencia, the fair buildings of Valencia, the Banco de Espana in Madrid, the Conservatory in Bilbao, McDonald’s in Barcelona and the press hall of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. In 2004 Elio Catania was appointed president and managing director of ‘Ferrovia dello Stato’ (Italian society for railroads of the state). The challenge was to modernise the Italian railway and the high speed lines.
Many steps have been taken since then: ‘Alta Velocità’ (high speed) is being realised and some lines are already technologically advanced. In Rome, for example, on arrival at the Termini station a dedicated route takes the traveller to the lounge hall where a hostess offers assistance in a refined environment. The relaxing atmosphere is helped by the acoustic well-being of the AP-Topakustik white ceiling: noiseless waiting, 24 hours a day. Peace, no noise from trains, no undertone of people talking or loudspeakers. AP-Topakustik has also played a part at the European Space Agency (ESA) headquarters in Rome. The mission of ESA, with its 17 member states, is to find out more about the earth, the solar system and the universe in general that could be useful for the improvement and well-being of society.
At ESA’s Centre for Earth Observation, ESRIN, headquartered in Frascati, AP-Topakustik has been used to cover a virtual reality theatre – a centre which monitors environment changes in real time. It is also featured in the Security Control Center (SSCC) – the brain of the ESRIN security system – in a maple finish and in the conference room in a silver finish. The product was recently put on display at the European parliament in Brussels at an event which was part of Roadmap 2010, a project aimed at the promotion of the use of wood to support sustainable development and give information about the social and economic benefits of its use in the building industry (see WBPI issue 2, 2006, p12). Here, Topakustik was used to good effect in a partition wall with a winding shape which gradually converged to encompass a sound-deadening meeting room within itself.
Music and acoustics are, of course, an inseparable pair and the Fantoni Group is very much aware of this. At the prestigious Casa del Jazz in Rome, restoration had to be carried out and Fantoni improved the acoustic performance of the auditorium in the main building. And just recently the San Giacomo square in Udine was the venue for a high-level concert devoted to Mozart and involving world-renowned artists. AP-Topakustik was used as a back-drop to the orchestra. Two large visually appealing curved walls were constructed with the product, which is said to have given perfect acoustics to the performance.
