Foto by Ballota - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

In 2019 Split Airport – also known as Resnik Airport – was the second busiest in Croatia, handling around 3.3 million passengers with more than 200 flights and 50,000 passengers on busiest weekends. It is a major destination for leisure flights during the European summer holiday season and an important hub for Croatia Airlines.

In order to meet all future requirements of rising passenger numbers the construction of a new terminal was started in the beginning of 2017. Phase one of the project, containing the new terminal building and the adjacent parking lot, was completed in July 2019. The complete project, which also includes the restoration of the existing terminal, sums up to an investment value of 60 million Euros.

A public road separates the parking lot and terminal. Therefore the planners decided to build a closed pedestrian bridge, which prevents traffic obstructions and protects passengers from weather and airplane noise. The design of the flat roof was included in the consideration for a suitable construction, which should reliably prevent noise from entering the building.

Among all common insulation materials, stone wool offers the best sound insulation. Therefore, it was decided to use a system consisting of 2,200 m² AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Rooftop as a cover board combined with a stone wool insulation by Knauf Insulation.

Arguments for choosing AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Rooftop in investment decisions like this comprise – besides the reinforcing effect on sound insulation by bringing additional mass into the roof structure – also the guarantee of a long-time insulation performance and functionality of the whole roof structure. The cover board guarantees safe roof accessibility during construction and after completion by distributing point loads across a larger area, thus also preventing warping or subsiding of the insulation and puncturing or bursting of the membrane’s joints (here: TPO).

Besides sound insulation, there was a strong focus on fire protection as well. Also in that regard the combination of stone wool as insulation material and AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Rooftop was a logical choice for the airport’s decision makers, as their non-combustibility highly contributes to sustainable people and asset protection.