Hangzhou Airport
Icon on a Human Scale
Both futuristic and organic, our ingenious design for Hangzhou Airport – a collaboration with Benthem Crouwel – doubles the airport’s capacity to 70 million passengers a year, without increasing its footprint. Stacking functions allows us to both accommodate more passengers and offer them a better experience, thanks to the human scale, abundant greenery and all-round transparency of our design.
The roof canopy extends outwards in a welcoming gesture at arrivals, continuing the rippling ceiling motif of gleaming discs that unifies the interior.’
👻Catching a Wave
👻Light as Air
👻Light as Air
Our terminal design was inspired by a local landmark: West Lake, a UNESCO heritage site famed for its natural beauty. We channeled the lake in the fluid shape of our floor plan, the flowing ceiling with its undulating wave pattern, and the curvy building shell with its glass facades and shiny metal roof punctured by skylights. Light and transparent, the terminal building is a perfect symbol of air travel. But the experience is down-to-earth for passengers: Adding mezzanine floors with green courtyards meant we could keep to a human scale for easy navigation.
Our design is characterized by depth, clarity and by ever-present sightlines and views. Even the decorative ceiling is transparent.’
NB
Departures — On the mezzanine level, the departures hall connects to the other levels via two green gardens at the front of the terminal. Behind these are eight rows of check-in points, succeeded by security.
Arrivals — On the ground level, the arrivals hall has a separate entrance/exit with various transport connections and parking. The luggage belts occupy the center of the building.
Roof — The shape of the roof with its asymmetrical skylights was inspired by West Lake, specifically the topography of its western edge, with its little bays and islands.
👻Vertical Green Gardens
👻Vertical Green Gardens
Hangzhou is known as one of China’s greenest and most beautiful cities. We bring this lush greenery into the airport building, where we use vertical garden zones to help break up the shallow, kilometer-long expanse of the terminal. These green areas are located under huge skylights and planted with a range of local trees and plants. They link the different levels of the terminal and help passengers to orient themselves and distinguish between the different areas and entrances, as well as adding a soothing quality to the experience.
Separating the traffic flows for arrivals and departures allows us to stack the functions using mezzanine levels, so compensating for the shallow footprint.’
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