De Meshallen

Project: De Meshallen

Country/City : The Netherlands, Wijchen

Segment: Office

Architect: Rozemarijn Henzen/Eromes Marko

Ceiling Contractor: Griemink Klazinaveen

Photographer: Hugo de Jong

De Meshallen – a unique platform for better education

Eromes Marko, a school furniture manufacturer, recently expanded its production site with the addition of a new office building, which has been named De Meshallen. The new building provides a physical and virtual platform that brings together educators, government and business with the objective of improving education. Ecophon has also signed up as a partner in the Meshallen project. The facilities include a Grand Café, offices and meeting rooms. Ecophon acoustic ceilings ensure excellent acoustics throughout the building.

High acoustic standards required

The ground floor of the Meshallen building consists of large open-plan areas, including the Grand Café, while the upper floor houses the ‘Souk’ – a number of smaller spaces, each with its distinct ambience. These spaces can be used by partners for meetings and events. The diverse nature of the activities required high acoustic standards. To leave open the option of subdividing the rooms into smaller spaces at a later date, the Eromes Marko design studio chose a Saint-Gobain API bandraster system, which forms a black overhead grid extending throughout the building. Ecophon Focus E panels in various colours and sizes were chosen for the acoustic ceilings. In the Grand Café, for instance, white Focus E panels have been installed on a section of the bandrasters, creating a kind of island ceiling. The offices mainly feature wall-to-wall ceilings in various colours: White Frost, Dark Diamond, Silver Stone, Silk Slate and Volcanic Ash. Combined with the black bandrasters, this results in a look that is sleek but not monotonous.

Ecophon’s mission

Bianca Scherpenhuyzen, Concept Developer Education at Ecophon, explained why Ecophon has become a partner in this platform to improve education: “It’s our mission to help create a healthy indoor climate everywhere people go to work, learn or heal. We often fail to recognise the importance of good acoustics to the learning environment – the proven benefits in terms of concentration, learning performance and energy levels. We’re proud to be involved in the Meshallen project alongside partners who all share the same objective. If we each play our part, we can build a better learning environment for teachers and our children.”