Sør Amfi (sports centre)

Sør Amfi is a very large sports centre built by the Arendal local authority in Norway.

It consists of three indoor arenas - tennis, gymnastics and a multipurpose hall. It also has a variety of other public spaces together with a gym, small health centre and administration offices. Completed in 2012, its total indoor area covers 13,200m².

The three floor building is designed as a T-shaped exposed concrete construction within which the sports hall roofs are supported by bare concrete columns and lattice beams of steel. Materials used are external zinc, perforated aluminium sheet and kebony wooden panels while inside are ash wood panels together with Troldtekt acoustic panels on all the  ceilings.

Architect Vidar Myrnes from Asplan Viak says,

‘Troldtekt was chosen mainly because of its material abilities and the design. We were looking for a product of high robustness against rough use and high humidity (in the changing area) and we wanted a ceiling that suited the “massive space” in the T-shaped middle building. An important issue as well was to find a product with good acoustic performance for the varied use of the building. We selected the coarse grey variant for the public open spaces and a fine white variant for the smaller closed areas.

Troldtekt A2 acoustic panels were installed in the areas with stricter fire regulations, such as hallways and other means of escape. The A2 panel complies with A2-s1,d0 fire safety requirements, but looks exactly the same as the normal Troldtekt acoustic panel. This means that the two types can be installed together without compromising the aesthetics or the acoustics.