ADR info points

The Info desk, designed by ADR engineering and King Roselli Architetti, was part of the restyling project for the airport Leonardo Da Vinci and is located in the strategic intersection point of the Terminal 1 departure lounge. Thanks to the curves of its geometry, this desk is able to welcome passengers coming from different directions and offers the possibility of 2 workstations on the inside, one of which for people with disabilities. The desk is set on a totem that has different functions: the display of the logo and of the ‘info’ pictogram, access to the inside of the desk and it is also a little closet for the staff.

The desk is made of a system of corona elliptical rings, with variable trapezoidal section and spaced apart, creating a total white vortex in the middle of the big foyer that hosts it.

Devoto followed the company production methodology to realize it.

Step 1. Feasibility analysis
These were the project guidelines:
–          preserve the project requisites without distorting the design
–          choose the best process and technology for the time and budget parameters
–          select structural materials and surface finishes as per the project requisites and per the location limits
–          analyze the delivery logistics, defining the dimensional limits according to transport and goods handling on site
Step 2. Executive drawings
Starting from 3D models made by the designers, Devoto took care of the CAD/CAM engineering for the CNC cut of the desk rings through Alphacam.
Step 3. Production and installation
The rings and their parts were entirely made by the 5-axes CNC machine. The manual installation, important for a further quality test of each and every element produced, was easily handled, thanks to an encoding procedure of all the elements, run during the CNC manufacturing.
Step 4. Surface finishing
For durability reasons, the desk was made of wood and, after being assembled, it was covered with fiberglass and eventually sprayed with Gelcoat. A final sanding, then, allowed Devoto to reach the desired surface finishing.
Notes on the surface finishing. For this project, the Gelcoat was the perfect solution to safeguard its beauty, to comply with the airport inflexible requisites of fireproofing, washability and scratch-resistance. The desk is white to be consistent with the Terminal 1 check-in desks. As for the fire prevention, the desk was realized with self-extinguishing resin – Gelcoat included – and with Class 1 fire-resistant materials (fire proof chipboard).
Step 5. Installation
The rings, installed one by one, were delivered on-site and then overlaid according to a scheme with templates and proper references, made especially to speed this operation up and avoid any mistakes. The delivery, 12 hours long, was run during the night in order to prevent any interferences with the daily airport activities.

Photo credit: Maurizio Di Luzio