Mid-Field Concourse, Hong Kong Airport

About This Project

High-Intelligibility Public Address for Airport Departure Gates

The new 30-gates building extension of Chep Lap Kok Airport, known as Mid-Field Concourse was designed with the aim to provide the best sound intelligibility and clarity of message ever built for an airport hall anywhere in the world. The challenge was met through 3years of design process, several customized solutions, a a very close coordination with Arup Acoustics Consultants who led the process and the ceiling designer. The speakers were applied throughout the hall expansive field of triangular tiles and have been designed inside some selected tiles to be totally invisible to the passenger’s eyes, while delivering the exact sound performance and sound balance as planned by the design calculation. The team overcame many difficulty of coordinating the integration withing the complex roof structure, working with architect and main contractor, and to meet the ceiling finish requirements from the architects, while not losing performance. The design resulted in a Speech Transmission Index (STI) of 0.7 and up to 99dB for emergency message, across the entire departure floor, while on normal basis they operate at 68dBA, with already sufficient listening comfort. A level of quality unheard ever before in such a long and large space.

Now all Gates passengers can clearly and audibly get confirmation about their flights or flight changes, while hardly hearing any other gates, due to the speakers very precise sound coverage, therefore making it highly obvious for everyone which gate is calling. This single benefit helps the perception by at least 50% because a lot of the ‘directional message’ is received. Another 50% improved perception is from the high-intelligibility of using adequate speaker components and waveguides by itself. As both sound image and clarity work hand in hand with the architecture to offer the perfect reinforcement to such a large but complex application.