paroc panel system magazine

Flexibility, rationality
and economy
Big events need careful
planning and co-ordination
and a fast turnaround.
In October 1999 Finland's
EU Presidency called a
Special Meeting of the
European Council in
Tampere, Finland. As ever,
the Press was there in even
greater numbers than the
delegates were!
A press and broadcasting centre for thousands
of media representatives was built in an old
industrial facility with very large, high interiors.
The space was divided to numerous small rooms
for different activities, and Paroc Panels were
selected for their strength, fire and sound
insulation properties, and speed of erection.
2 THE MAGAZINE
The smaller rooms were built without a
framework and with 3 metre high walls made
of 100mm thick panels. Some of the rooms were
covered with 120mm thick ceiling panels. Some
larger rooms were 4 metres high and supported
with a steel frame. The total amount of panels
installed in this project was 3600 square metres.
Martti Nolvi, the Manager of Production Projects
at the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is used
to arranging facilities for the media during big
meetings and events. This was the first time he
had used Paroc Panels. He was more than
satisfied with the flexibility of the panels. Savings
-time, space and financial - came along with
the panel features: prefabrication meant short
erection time, structures were stable enough to
allow sliding doors, which meant savings in
space. "In rooms without ceilings we did not
need any extra lighting and ventilation and
electricity cables were drawn under the panels
without any penetrations. With these solution
we saved a lot of time, too. And of course, fire
safety is paramount when hundreds of people
are gathered together." said Martti Nolvi.
This was not the end of the story. After two months
there was a European Council meeting in Helsinki
that was also a big media event. Since the
meeting was held in the Exhibition Centre of
Helsinki the time schedule was even tighter, just
five days.
The Paroc Panels used in Tampere, which had
been demounted and stored, were transported
to Helsinki for reinstallation in the exhibition
centre. The installation company had measured
the time taken to build each type of room in
Tampere and evaluated the needs of the
installation crew in Helsinki. With such good
planning they installed the panels in only four
days!
At the end of 1999 Finland's presidency in the
EU was over. Some of the panels were sold again
for reuse in the new ventilation rooms in the
Exhibition Centre of Helsinki and the rest of the
panels were installed as temporary partitioning
walls during the renovation of the Arabia Gallery
in Helsinki.
Technical installations were hidden in
the narrow space between each press
room.