Etex’s plasterboards were selected in the construction and renovation of six of the twelve stadiums hosting the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. These include the Corinthians Arena in Sao Polo, where the Red Devils beat the Republic of Korea 1-0, and the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, where the Belgium team will play this evening against the USA. The boards were chosen not only for their thermal and acoustic insulation performance, but also for their speed of assembly and versatility.
Fons Peeters, CEO of Etex: “The Corinthians Arena, where 40,000 m² of Etex’s plasterboards were used, seems to have brought luck to the Belgian team. I hope it will be the same for the match against the United States. Anyway, just as the Red Devils achieved their goal by reaching the 1/8 final match, we reached ours by participating in the construction of the stadiums and as such, helped create inspiring ways of living.”
A Belgian touch in Latin America
Etex has a well-anchored and strong presence in Latin America, and keeps investing today. It added another line in its factory for fibre cement sheets in Colombia and invested in new digital technology in all its ceramic tiles factories to further improve the design of the tiles. In Peru, 27 million euro was invested in a new factory for gypsum boards. And in April, Etex started the construction of a new gypsum board plant in Rio de Janeiro, in which it will invest 60 million euro.
Today, Rio de Janeiro based Gypsum Drywall is the company at the heart of one of the world’s largest sports events. Chosen as a supplier for six of the stadiums of the World Cup, Gypsum Drywall is present in the Corinthians Arena (São Paulo), Pernambuco Arena (Recife), Fonte Nova Arena (Salvador), Amazonia Arena (Manaus), Dunas Arena (Natal) and Beira Rio (Porto Alegre). The FGE Ceiling system was the main product supplied in the projects, amounting to an approximate contract value of 650,000 euro.
Gypsum systems in the most modern stadiums in the world
Acoustic insulation and fire protection are some of the advantages of the gypsum boards. Since gypsum contains water molecules, it offers lasting resistance against the spread of flames in case of fire. Speed of assembly, versatility and low waste generation are other undeniable assets of the Etex systems used in this project.
The Fonte Nova Arena, with a capacity of 50,000 people, will host the match Belgium-USA this evening. Approximately 15,000 m² of gypsum boards were used for the large flat and curved ceilings, meeting the thermal and acoustic requirements.
In the Corinthians Arena, where the opening game of the 2014 World Cup was played, about 40,000 m² of Etex’s plasterboards were used. 45,000 m² of regular boards and 778 m² of GypSOM, which are special boards for ceilings, were supplied for the Pernambuco Arena.
“Brazil now has the most modern football arenas. By developing and manufacturing safer and stronger materials which are more aesthetic and recyclable, we are happy to participate in our way to the Football World Cup,” says Fons Peeters, CEO of Etex.