Studio Fuksas unveiled its first airport design in 2013, a new Terminal that will facilitate the travel of 43 million passengers annually. The Terminal dubbed Terminal 3 at the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, will more than double its capacity with its massive floor area of 500,000 sq.m.
The concept of the plan for the airport was inspired by a fish, the manta ray, which breathes and changes its shape, undergoes variations, and turns into a bird to celebrate the emotion and fantasy of a flight. The airport has been created in an organic form and plan, showing how strongly nature has inspired the design.
The terminal structure evokes the feeling of a sculpture organically shaped and modeled by the wind. The Terminal is a 1.5 km-long tunnel with a roofing profile that varies in height at various points to emphasize the height-changing natural landscape.
A double-layered skin inspired by the honeycomb motif wraps the structure with numerous skylights, letting in natural light. Consequently, Terminal 3 is well-lit during the day, with the honeycomb-motif openings on the roof create variations and light effects that make for an interesting interior space.
The large Terminal 3 ‘tail’ accommodates the entrance from which passengers ascend to various spaces. The ground floor allows access to the luggage, departures, and arrival spaces. Other areas on the ground floor include houses, restaurants, offices, and business facilities.
The interiors of the terminal feature white cylindrical columns that rise to touch the roof, with shorter, chunky, tree-like air-conditioning vents sitting between most of the support columns.
The space is characterized by numerous double- and triple-volume spaces, which, according to the architect, establish visual interior connections between levels and act as a passage for natural light to filter through darker spaces.
The architects designed a key area within the airport from which everything begins: the concourse. It has three levels dedicated to three independent functions: departures, arrivals, and services.
The form was designed to create a cross, the intersection point where the three concourse levels are vertically connected. The vertical connection creates large triple-volume spaces that allow natural light from the skylights on the roof to the lowest levels of the waiting rooms on the ground floor.
Terminal 3 at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport is an impressive work of architecture by Massimiliano Fuksas and his wife, Doriana Fuksas. The tubular design of the terminal shows that people are in motion; hence, everything in the development chases the idea of motion.
The interiors replicate the honeycomb motif on the exterior. The solid stainless steel finish inside the airport serves to multiply the motif on the internal skin especially on the ceiling. For the architects, organic was the way they chose this terminal, and it reflects all around, including on the short white tree-like air conditioning vents. It’s a case of all-nature and no going back.
Project Information
Architects: Studio Fuksas
Location: Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, Bao’an, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Lead Architects: Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas
Area: 500000 sq.m
Completed: 2013
Budget: 734,000,000 Euros
Photography: Studio Fuksas
