China currently boasts the world's largest building, could soon be home to the world's tallest pair of towers, and according to Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), we will soon be able to add an airport passenger terminal to the list. The firm has unveiled plans for its Beijing New Airport Terminal Building, which it says will be the world's largest.
The project is a collaboration between ZHA and airport architecture firm ADP Ingeniérie, and is being carried out under the leadership of the Beijing New Airport Headquarters (BNAH). The terminal is part of a planned new airport located in the Daxing District of Beijing's southern suburbs, and resembles the form of a massive mutant starfish.
It's early days yet, and ZHA hasn't revealed the exact size of the terminal building, merely stating that it will be the world's largest. However, Building Design online has reported that the terminal will measure 700,000 sq m (7,534,737 sq ft), and that the entire airport will be completed in 2018, for a total budget of £9 billion (roughly US$13.8 billion). We've contacted ZHA to confirm these details and will update when we know more.
Assuming all goes well, and the Beijing New Airport Terminal Building is indeed constructed as planned, it will serve to take some of the pressure off the city's existing Capital Airport, which is already operating over capacity, and will initially accommodate 45 million passengers per year.
It's also being pitched as "sustainable," though again no details have been revealed at this point – possibly because they simply haven't been finalized yet.
Source: Zaha Hadid Architects
