Attention to detail brings perfect peace to Doha's busy airport
Wood print and shiny metal panels are penetrated by millions of small holes.
Look left or right to the big columns and pillars, and their part in the story is less obvious.
Look down to the flooring and, well, at a glance it could be flooring in any public or commercial space, anywhere.
But each plays a part in what, for me, are the two standout features of this international hub, through which 52.7 million passengers passed in 2024 — 15 per cent more than in the previous year, and many of them flying with Qatar Airways.
Hamad International Airport is the main international gateway of Qatar, the hub for Qatar Airways, and one of the busiest airports in the Middle East.
The first big part of the 'new airport', as we still see it today, opened in 2014 — but I was here years before that, when it was a building site. One of the first contracts placed was for acoustic design — it was always important to the airport's developers that this be a quiet airport, with suppressed sound and muted cacophony.
And the success of this is, for me, the greatest standout feature of the airport.
I stand in the central hub of the airport, realising I can't hear the conversations of those around me, which are reduced to a hum.
Trolleys pass without a sound from their wheels.
I can't even hear my own footfall.
In the Al Mourjan business class lounge, there's a large, shallow pool of water, and the most enormously tall curtains I've ever seen.
But the acoustic success is not in mere wall hangings (even if extraordinary). Its foundations are in the skeleton of the airport. Acoustic measures were integrated into the architectural design of the airport, with pillars which transfer vibration into the ground.
On top of that, the airport's many acoustic panels were designed and installed in the successful pursuit of a 'dry', and not 'live', soundscape.
This all helps reduce reverberation times — the amount of time it takes for sound to 'decay' in a space. Hamad International, previously known simply as the 'New Doha International Airport', has one of the world's biggest insulated stainless steel, standing-seam roofs, built using DensDeck Prime Roof Boards. It covers 217,000sqm, and its acoustic performance has proved successful.
So much so that, when the central concourse was expanded in 2022, DensDeck Prime Roof Board was once again chosen as the top layer.
The concourse extension was largely to handle the extra passengers arriving for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the Dutch company Hunter Douglas was chosen to supply suspended acoustic ceiling panels.
Flat panels have a honeycomb core and a front and back skin. Curved panels, in a wood print, have a single skin.
About 70,000sqm of ceiling panels were installed, including about 16,000sqm of white acoustic panels.
From design to production and delivery took less than eight months.
The huge areas of the floors presented a big challenge.
There could be 15,000 passengers an hour passing through the airport, and floors not only had to meet environmental and health and safety regulations, but be aesthetically pleasing . . . and quiet.
American company Sherwin-Williams supplied and laid 140,000sqm of pigmented epoxy resin terrazzo during the initial new airport construction.
Terrazzo flooring is a mix of aggregate with resin which is hard-wearing and durable. With re-polishing or resealing using water-based products, it could last 40 years. Because terrazzo has a mix of hard chips in a softer material, it disrupts the reflection of sound waves. Put simply, the hard chips scatter and absorb those sound waves, while the softer material cushions its impact.
Sherwin-Williams shipped pre-mixed marble aggregates from Italy for the main floor areas, using three colours — dark grey, pure black, and white.
The epoxy terrazzo was poured, ground and polished (and keep in mind this was done while there were up to 16,000 construction workers on site.)
Sherwin-Williams reported very little waste as the amounts used in the terrazzo had to be measured accurately.
Some areas were also treated with porcelain stoneware flooring, which was specifically developed by Italian company Cotto d'Este. The team there made tiles that are 60cm x 120cm, and 14mm thick.
The porcelain stoneware has good acoustic qualities.
Cotto d'Este has also worked on concert hall projects, like the new 1850-seat opera house and 1000-seat concert hall in Florence, Italy.
At the start of this story, I said there were 'two standout features'. The acoustics is one, but the other is the quality of the materials used.
Literally no expense was spared, and those I have met over the years who were (and are) involved in the architecture, interior design and build have repeatedly said how liberating and completely unusual it was to work on a project where the commitment was simply to having the best.
For holiday travellers dipping into their savings or superannuation, there's often the question… is business class really worth paying four-or-five times an economy fare, or more?
Sometimes it simply doesn't seem so, and increasingly travellers are moving to premium economy as an 'each-way bet'.
What I call 'herringbone business class' might have bigger screens and better dining than economy class, but the fully reclining seats are in waist-high pods, the traveller's head nearest the aisle.
They lack one essential ingredient — privacy.
Qatar Airways' Qsuite is the game changer in business class, and it will set a new benchmark when it is introduced on the Perth route from June 25.
A Qsuite is a fully enclosed private cabin with a sliding door. It feels like what first class once was.
Qatar has being flying A380s between Perth and Doha which don't have Qsuites, but the airline is putting Boeing 777s on the route. Two Qsuites together, in the centre of the plane, will also transform into a double bed or family suite.
An old travellers' adage is that once you've experienced business class, you can't go back to economy.
And it may just be that travellers who've experienced a Qsuite won't be happy with other styles of business class.
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