Shenzen Bao'an International Airport
The architecture here is incredible. Natural light pours through the hexagonal skylights in the roof and one of the terminals doubles the space of the existing airport. It will have up to 45 million passengers a year. It only took three years to build, and the designers are tying to copyright the design. The design is so clean and pure, I think it would work really well when busy because it is so easy to light and easy to navigate through.
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Thousands of hexagonal skylights bring natural light into this new terminal that Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have completed at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in China (+ slideshow).
Terminal 3 more than doubles the capacity of the existing airport, which is located 32 kilometres north-west of Shenzhen's city centre. It is set to open later this week and will facilitate up to 45 million passengers per year.
Studio Fuksas looked at the shapes of various living creatures when planning the layout of the complex. "The concept of the plan for Terminal 3 of Shenzen Bao'an international airport evokes the image of a manta ray, a fish that breathes and changes its own shape, undergoes variations, [and] turns into a bird to celebrate the emotion and fantasy of a flight," said the architects.
A curving roof canopy constructed from steel and glass wraps around the airport, accommodating spans of up to 80 metres. Hexagonal skylights perforate the surface of this roof, allowing natural light to filter through the entire terminal.
This pattern, which the architects describe as a honeycomb, is reflected in the polished tile floor, as well as on the stainless steel check-in desks and gates designed especially for the airport by Studio Fuksas.
"The interiors have a sober profile and a stainless steel finish that reflects and multiplies the honeycomb motif of the internal skin," said the architects.
The concourse is divided across three levels, allowing separate floors for arrivals, departures and servicing, and voids in the floor-plates create a series of double- and triple-height spaces.
Cylindrical white columns are positioned at intervals to support the arching roof and sit alongside air-conditioning vents designed to look like chunky trees.
This is the first airport by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, whose previous projects include the Lycée Georges Frêche school for hotel management in France and Foligno Church in Italy. The architects are now working on two further extensions to the airport, which will complete in 2025 and 2035.
Read on for more information from the design team:
Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, Terminal 3
The highly anticipated new terminal at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, Guangdong, China, will be operational from the 28 November, 2013.
The first airport by acclaimed architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas it is set to become an iconic landmark that will boost the economic development of Shenzhen - one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
Won by international competition, it has undergone a remarkably rapid process of design and construction, completing within 3 years.
The client, Shenzhen Airport (Group) Co., is so pleased with the striking design that it is taking the unusual step of trying to copyright it.
The terminal – the largest single public building to be built to date in Shenzhen - encompasses 63 contact gates, with a further 15 remote gates and significant retail space. It will increase the capacity of the airport by 58%, allowing the airport to handle up to 45 million passengers per year.
The sculptural 500,000 sq.m. / 5,381,955 sq.ft (approx) terminal, evokes the image of a manta ray and features a striking internal and external double 'skin' honeycomb motif that wraps the structure. At 1.5 km long, with roof spans of up to 80m, honeycomb shaped metal and glass panels punctuate the façade of the terminal allowing natural light to filter through. On the interior, the terminal is characterised by distinctive white conical supporting columns that rise to touch the roof at a cathedral-like scale.
The focal point of the design is the concourse located at the intersection of the building. Consisting of three levels – departure, arrivals and services – they vertically connect to create full height voids, allowing natural light to filter from the highest level down to the lowest.
Studio Fuksas has created an interior, as striking and elegant as the exterior. The spatial concept is one of fluidity and combines two different ideas: the idea of movement and the idea of pause. Carefully considering the human experience of such environments, Studio Fuksas focused on processing times, walking distances, ease of orientation, crowding, and availability of desired amenities.
Stand-out features of the interior design include stylised white 'trees' that serve as air conditioning vents, and check-in 'islands', gates and passport-check areas with a stainless steel finish that beautifully reflect the honeycomb patterns from above.
The honeycomb motif translates through into many aspects of the interior and at different scales – from the larger retail boxes to smaller 3D imprints in the wall cover.
The Studio Fuksas designed Terminal 3 is of critical importance to the future of Shenzhen as a booming business and tourist destination, and will bring benefits to the region as a whole.
Studio Fuksas are engaged on two further phases of the airport extension, scheduled to complete in 2025 and 2035 respectively.
I absolutely love the architecture in this airport. It is so clean, spacious and minimal. I think it really goes well with relaxed scenery and life of Gibraltar. The balcony allows passengers to look over at the runway, and I think it makes the whole flying process seem a lot calmer because it is so minimally designed - it isn't chaotic at all.
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A curving slab-like roof oversails the glazed elevations of this new airport terminal in Gibraltar by London firms Bblur Architecture and 3DReid (+ slideshow).
The architects designed the building as a gateway to the British overseas territory, as it is the first structure that visitors will see when arriving by plane, car or on foot.
Fully glazed elevations were added to take advantage of the views in every direction. To the west and east, passengers can look out over the Mediterranean Sea, while the landmark Rock of Gibraltar flanks the building from the south.
The roof overhangs each side of the building, creating a canopy that shades the windows from direct sunlight. An integrated cleaning system also rinses the facades periodically to keep the glass free from corrosive sand particles.
The interior of the terminal is organised over two floors, with a double-height concourse for check-ins and arrivals. The departures lounge occupies the first floor and extends out onto a balcony terrace that spans the building and branches out to the west.
"I feel that the building arrangement is particularly successful in creating a graceful and elegant and calm resolution to a very demanding brief," lead designer Daniel Bérubé told Dezeen.
He added: "There is a type of narrative that unravels in the building, culminating in the departures lounge where there is finally a full view of the striking north face of the Rock of Gibraltar. Its full breadth and setting can be further appreciated by stepping outside the departures lounge onto the airside terrace."
Another benefit of the glazed elevations is that they bring natural light through most spaces in the building. Roof lights were also added and help to aid orientation through the terminal.
Bérubé first developed the design for the airport whilst working for3DReid, but continued working on the project after leaving to set up his own firm, Bblur Architecture, with partner Matthew Bedward.
Since launching in 2008, Bblur Architecture has also completed a bus station with an undulating aluminium canopy and collaborated with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on a fabric walkway on the roof of the O2 Arena in London.
Other airports to complete in recent years include Bodrum Airport in Turkey, which topped the transport category at last year's World Architecture Festival, and Carrasco International Airport in Uruguay by Rafael Viñoly. See more airport design on Dezeen.
Photography is by Hufton + Crow.
Here's some text from the design team:
New Gibraltar Airport Terminal
Gibraltar Airport's uniquely situated new terminal building is modern, dynamic, transparent and airy. Designed by bblur architecture with 3DReid and NACO, it is a world class facility which has created opportunities for flights from Spain and the rest of Europe to Gibraltar.
A unique and complex location
The new terminal is the first building visitors will see when they enter Gibraltar by air, road or on foot and is located immediately at the frontier, with the Rock as a backdrop. Sited within an extraordinary and spectacular landscape, it is bound by very tight constraints on all sides with the frontier with Spain to the North, the existing airport runway to the South, Winston Churchill Avenue to the West and tapering land with RAF restrictions to the East. The building is 2-storeys high and covers 19,600sqm.
A refined and elegant design solution
With over 20 years experience in aviation the design team approached this commission with consideration and empathy, and created an important public space both around and inside the terminal.
A large over-sailing roof, providing shade and shelter to the fully glazed walls which maximise views to the Rock and across the straits toward Africa and the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, reflects the terminal's aviation function and maritime location.
The forecourt creates a new landscaped park providing a generous welcome to Gibraltar and the airport and an identifiable 'place' at the frontier, a place to meet and greet whether on a local or extended journey.
There are double height spaces within the terminal and an extensive airside roof terrace, designed as an extension to the departures lounge. The terminal which operates over two levels with an area of 19,600sqm has a primary check in and arrivals concourse at ground floor on the West side of the terminal. The terminal was also designed to accommodate entry and exit of passengers directly at the frontier.
The airport's airside areas have also been reconfigured to provide 5 aircraft stands and a new airside facilities building.
Key design attributes
» Takes advantage of fantastic views over the airfield towards the rock
» Dramatic roof overhang and solar shading create a building which is architecturally significant and environmentally sensitive
» The use of glazing achieves transparency between the interior and exterior, allows the terminal to be predominantly naturally lit and provides extensive views out of the terminal.
» The fifth elevation (roof) very important as seen from the rock – use of roof lights which are laid out to visually guide passengers through some of the more internal routes. The roof lights generate subtle animation of the space throughout the day from throwing disks of diffused sunlight onto the floor to capturing the blue glow in the early evening.
Energy efficient
Energy efficiency has been a key consideration. The design incorporates a large roof overhang to provide a high level of solar shading which maintains a cool environment. High performance double glazing and automated roller blinds contribute to enhanced energy performance.
Certain features of the design result from the building's proximity to the sea. In addition to the need for close attention to detailing and specifications for external elements because of the corrosive marine environment, there was also concern about maintaining the appearance of the glazing, not just from salt-saturated air but also wind-borne sand and dust particles. The design solution includes a special external cleansing system that intermittently rinses the façades to eliminate accumulated material. The de-ionised water used in the system further improves the effectiveness of the rinsing process.
Buro Happold's Fire Engineering developed a holistic fire safety design that integrates a combination of passive and active fire safety measures, along with management measures to combine to give a simple but robust fire strategy for the building. This provides several benefits: offering life safety protection to the large numbers of passengers and staff using the terminal, containing fire and smoke to limited areas, and reducing operational disruption in the event of an incident.
Team definition and roles
Daniel Bérubé and Matthew Bedward led the 3DReid design team from concept to planning scheme design until they left to form bblur architecture in 2008. bblur architecture and 3DReid agreed to collaborate throughout the design development and delivery phases of the project with Daniel Bérubé leading the project as concept guardian and lead designer working with 3DReid and the contractor to deliver the Terminal and associated infrastructure. This was to ensure that Dragados S.A., the Spanish contractor who was awarded the design-build contract of the Terminal and associated infrastructure works, remained faithful to the original design intent.
During the course of the project delivery bblur architecture was also commissioned to design the interiors of the terminal, and to redesign the terminal forecourt and adjacent public realm with Spacehub. In addition to the main terminal building, bblur architecture and 3DReid have designed the Park & Ride facility, a 6 level multi-storey car park, on the opposite side of runway.
Client: Government of Gibraltar
Architect: bblur architecture and 3DReid
Engineers: Buro Happold
Main contractor: Dragados S.A.
Aviation Consultants: NACO B.V.
Landscape Consultants: Spacehub
Project Management Gibraltar Land Reclamation Company
Architect: bblur architecture and 3DReid
Engineers: Buro Happold
Main contractor: Dragados S.A.
Aviation Consultants: NACO B.V.
Landscape Consultants: Spacehub
Project Management Gibraltar Land Reclamation Company
I love the simplicity of this airport, the curved roof makes it look very modern. Although it is quite small, there is a lot of open space, and the big windows let a lot of natural light in.
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New York architects Rafael Viñoly have completed an airport with a curved roof in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Called Carrasco International Airport, the project features a curved roof spanning over 365 metres.
Arrivals pass through a glazed mezzanine level before descending to the ground floor and departures are processed on the first floor.
A public terrace and restaurant on the second floor provide views over the runway and concourse.
The airport is due to open next month.
This CNN article has pictures of some great architecture in airports. I picked out my three favourite examples from the examples.
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