Padel is a racket game, which combines elements of tennis and squash, enthralls enthusiasts and entrepreneurs - in 2021, almost 400 new courts were completed in Finland.

The Padel Club Finland center under construction in Seinäjoki will have 10 padel courts and an indoor play height of 11 meters. When complete, the center will be the largest of its kind in Southern Ostrobothnia. The state-of-the-art center will provide a great setting for playing padel. Besides the court, the center will feature superb sauna and conference facilities as well as a lounge / lounge area for watching games. As the customer and operator of the center, Padel Club Finland wanted to pay particular attention to the center’s acoustics as one of the indicators of the user experience.

Padel Club Finland center will be the pilot site for Ruukki's new acoustic solution. The height of the hall, the hard floor material of the padel courts and the glass walls particularly challenge the sound environment of the center. Ruukki's new acoustic solution has been designed especially for high spaces and sounds. The acoustic load-bearing sheet will create an excellent acoustic environment for the center and add to the user experience of the building.

Trutec Oy, the construction project contractor,, has completed several padel centers, some of which have been built as turnkey projects. Trutec Oy has optimized the dimensioning of the steel frame in accordance with the padel courts to allow an incredible playing height. Trutec offers sports hall builders a ready-made concept right down to the architect's license and is familiar with the official regulations for hall construction. This makes it a reliable partner for sports hall construction.

Tarmo Viljamaa from Vahanen Oy is the responsible structural designer of the site. He emphasizes the importance of acoustics in the user experience of the premises being built. In the past, acoustics were considered important only when designing music and concert halls. In recent years, the importance of acoustics has grown to include many public construction sites, such as various sports venues, ice rinks, sports halls, arenas, schools and kindergartens.

Seinäjoki padel center architect, Jyrki Jääskeläinen at Arkkitehtitoimisto Jääskeläinen Oy architect office, was able to take these issues into account already at the design stage. “This is how it should always work in order to avoid unpleasant acoustics repairs later,” Viljamaa emphasizes. He estimates that around 50% of sports halls alone will have to repair sound insulation afterwards. Improvements  are made, for example, by adding acoustic panels, acoustic curtains, auditorium upholstery and many other actions that are thought to reduce reverberation. He hopes that going forward, acoustics will always be considered during the project's development phase and that new sound insulation solutions and alternatives will appear on the market so that the developers do not see it as such a high cost item as they do at present.

Ruukki's acoustics solution is a very welcome product concept. Cooperation with Ruukki has been seamless and expectations are high. Viljamaa has also learnt about Ruukki's updated POIMU load-bearing sheet program during this project. 

The acoustics solution will be launched in the fall of 2022.

Further information: 
Director Pekka Roivio
Products & Services Development
pekka.roivio@ruukki.com