Silence – not exactly what you associate with an airport. But after completing a long day of photo production on the air-side of Zurich Airport, I was given the opportunity to walk into this unique looking noise reduction hangar.

We entered it through the  back side and found ourselves in a huge room and everything was suddenly silent – not even an echo, the world literally felt silenced.

Year2023

The Silencer - Noise cancelling hangar at Zurich Airport ZRH seen from outside

The noice reduction hangar at Zurich airport was built in 2014 to protect surrounding areas from loud aircraft engine testing. It is large enough to accommodate aircrafts up to the size of a Boeing 747-8 and has an interior maximum height of 24m. You can read more about this impressive construction here on the Zurich airport website.

The above image is the outside view from the front, looking at the two doors in closed state. They swing out when opened, allowing airplanes being pushed in backwards. The doors consist of large bent blades with sound absorbing surfaces, which allows the inflow of air for the engines during turbine tests.

The following two images show the doors from the inside, where you can see the perforated plate cassettes being used for sound dampening.

The Silencer - silencing blades of hangar at Zurich Airport ZRH - Photo: Philippe Wiget
The Silencer - silencing blades of hangar-door at Zurich Airport ZRH - Photo: Philippe Wiget
The Silencer - Inside sound silencing hangar at Zurich Airport ZRH - Art Photography

Looking down along the middle line towards the jet blast deflector at the rear of the hangar. The deflector is 16 metres high and redirects the high-speed air emissions up at an angle of 90°. Like all walls and ceilings, the deflector is also fitted with highly effective accosting cladding, leading to the…. silence in there.

Feel free to see more photos of my Airport Zurich campaign photo production for Canton of Zurich’s Department of Economic Affairs.