Wellington Airport in New Zealand

The Wellington Airport helps take nearly 6 million passengers direct to 25 destinations around the world every year and handles 85,000 aircraft movements.

The southern extension to the Main Terminal Building, which was completed in 2016, was the first major work to the airport since its opening in 1959.

The terminal development was designed to facilitate increased passenger numbers for current and future requirements. This was achieved by providing both increased building area and a reconfiguration of the operational facilities within the south end of the terminal. This included a refinement of the security screening to the South West Pier, reorganized access to the South Pier Regional gates and additional width to the South Pier. The extension project was officially launched in November 2016 and was designed by architects Warren and Mahoney. It saw the new structure constructed up and over the existing buildings while simultaneously facilitating 20,000 daily passengers and over 200 daily aircraft movements. The extension created a much-enhanced passenger experience, vastly improving the passenger flow through the terminal. There is now an extra 6000 m² of space, new seating, more food and shopping choices and a convenient centralised screening point.

Wellington Airport’s terminal south extension project was awarded tourism and leisure category winner and a gold award held at the New Zealand Commercial Project award ceremony on 18^th May, 2018.

New Zealand Commercial Project Award judges commented, “The addition is so well integrated that it looks as though it was always intended as the completion of the southern end of the building.”

MAPEI PRODUCTS ON BOARD

The new and existing concrete floor substrates were prepared by way of a mechanical grind and re-surfaced using PLANIPREP SC. This is a high-performance, polymer-modified, fiber-reinforced cement-based skimcoating and patching compound, which is distributed on the local market by Mapei New Zealand. It allows for fast-track flooring installations in 30 to 60 minutes after application.

The B2 backed carpet tiles manufactured by the Australian company Ontera Milliken Pty Ltd were installed using ULTRABOND ECO FIX, a solvent-free adhesive based on acrylic resins in water dispersion, formulated as an easily trowelable light cream paste. It is used for the installation of loose-lay carpet or resilient tiles intended to be releasable.

When dry, the ULTRABOND ECO FIX mantains a residual tack, even after repeated removal and successive relaying of the floor tiles: it is therefore possible to remove or substitute the flooring easily. The adhesive features very low emissions of volatile organic compounds (EMICODE EC1-certified) and can be used in areas with heavy foot and normal wheeled chair traffic.

On the other hand, the Ontera cushioned backed carpet tiles were installed using ULTRABOND ECO TACK, an acrylic tackifier dispersed in water with a very low emission level of volatile organic compounds (VOC), for loose-lay carpet tiles. It may be used to hold and prevent slipping of loose-lay carpet tiles with any type of backing on all substrates normally used in the building industry, on existing flooring and on raised floors. ULTRABOND ECO TACK is also suitable for application on heated floors. It is non-flammable and has a very low emission level of VOC (EMICODE EC1). ULTRABOND ECO TACK is not hazardous for those who use the product or who use the environment where it has been applied.