Architecture

Zaha Hadid unveils plans for world's largest airport terminal

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The Beijing New Airport Terminal Building will be constructed in Beijing's Daxing District and take the form of a massive mutant starfish (Image: Zaha Hadid Architects)
The Beijing New Airport Terminal Building will be constructed in Beijing's Daxing District and take the form of a massive mutant starfish (Image: Zaha Hadid Architects)
Local and national connections will come courtesy of road and rail links (Image: Zaha Hadid Architects)
The new terminal will take some of the pressure off the city's existing Capital Airport, and will initially accommodate 45 million passengers per year (Image: Zaha Hadid Architects)
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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.

The new terminal will take some of the pressure off the city's existing Capital Airport, and will initially accommodate 45 million passengers per year (Image: Zaha Hadid Architects)

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

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3 comments
Lewis M. Dickens III
So where is this with respect to the Norman Foster's, world's largest Airport Terminal?
This is much more Biomorphic than his excercise in enormous precision geometry?
Visiting China and seeing the huge airport left me with no question... they have moved way ahead of us.
Derek Howe
@ Lewis - China will be able to hold several "worlds largest" titles because they have a massive population.
Noel K Frothingham
Lewis, define "...moved way ahead of us.". Is sheer size your only metric? Take a good look at the 'Related Articles' below these comments - read about Istanbul's New Airport with the worlds largest terminal. "Worlds largest" is one of the shortest lived designations man has ever devised. It ranks right behind "worlds best" and "lowest price".