International terminal building in Istanbul's Ataturk Airport uses laminated glass for safety and security

Ataturk Airport, Istanbul

The new international terminal building in Istanbul's Ataturk Airport uses 39,000 sq m of laminated safety glass incorporating DuPont™ Butacite® PVB. Yucel Akyurek of Istanbul laminator Sisecam explained: "Architects usually insist on laminated glass in airports for safety and security reasons. Neutral climate control glazing with low reflectivity and high light transmittance is particularly appropriate for airport terminals since highly-reflective glass on the outside could "blind" pilots during the day and obscure viewing of the apron at night, when the illumination intensity balance is reversed. Other attributes of laminated glass vital for airport terminal applications are noise attenuation, fire damping and UV control properties."

Laminated glass is used for the façade, roof and most of the interiors of the new terminal. The architect, Ebru Kantasi specified the façade as follows: 6 mm tempered + a 12 mm space + laminated glass. The laminated glass contained 0.76 mm azure blue Butacite® PVB. It uses IMF 70, Sisecam's neutral, multi-functional, Low-E climate control coating. This gives 1.7 watts per sq m Kelvin U-value, 52% shading co-efficient and 70% light transmission, optimizing environmental efficiency.