Two years ago, Zurich Airport, which opened in the 1950s, launched an international design competition to replace the aging Dock A—the airport’s largest dock. The winning design is led by BIG, with HOK as the aviation architect. The new Dock A—including gates, retail, lounges, offices, a new air traffic control tower, and an extension of the immigration hall—is slated to open by 2032.
The seven-floor Dock A will have two main areas: a central hub with shopping, airport services for arriving and departing passengers, and vertical circulation; and a pier with the gates, waiting areas, and fixed links connecting to the planes. The control tower will be placed in the building’s center.
Dock A’s structure, floors, and ceilings will be made primarily with mass timber. A renewable local resource, this material will allow for prefabrication during the construction process—while also nodding to the Swiss tradition of wood construction. The building’s V-shaped timber columns not only provide structural support but also reference Switzerland’s iconic mountains and pitched roofs.
“As airports grow and evolve and as international guidelines and safety requirements change, airports tend to become more and more complex: Frankensteins of interconnected elements, patches and extensions,” Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director, BIG, said in a statement. “For the new main terminal of Zurich Airport, we have attempted to answer this complex challenge with the simplest possible response: a mass timber space frame that is structural design, spatial experience, architectural finish, and organizational principle in one.”
The long, sculptural roof will be covered with PV panels. Integrated shading will reduce solar heat gain and maintenance requirements. And the building will use a combination of water and air-based cooling and heating systems.
The “simple yet expressive design,” Ingels added, embodies “the cultural and natural elements of Swiss architecture.”
On the building team:
Owner: Zurich Airport
Design lead: BIG
Aviation architect: HOK
Local architect: 10:8
Structural engineer: Buro Happold
Structural engineer timber/building physics: Pirmin Jung Schweiz AG
Mechanical engineer: Haerter & Partner AG
Electrical engineer: TLP
Construction management: Baurealisation
Related Stories
| Nov 13, 2013
Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study
The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
| Sep 30, 2013
Smart building systems key to new Wisconsin general aviation terminal’s net zero target
The Outagamie County Regional Airport’s new 8,000 sf general aviation terminal was designed to achieve net zero.
| Sep 19, 2013
What we can learn from the world’s greenest buildings
Renowned green building author, Jerry Yudelson, offers five valuable lessons for designers, contractors, and building owners, based on a study of 55 high-performance projects from around the world.
| Sep 19, 2013
6 emerging energy-management glazing technologies
Phase-change materials, electrochromic glass, and building-integrated PVs are among the breakthrough glazing technologies that are taking energy performance to a new level.
| Sep 11, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 3 coverage
Day 3 coverage of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo, taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Sep 10, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 2 coverage
The BD+C editorial team brings you this real-time coverage of day 2 of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Aug 30, 2013
Local Government Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest local government design and construction firms, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 30, 2013
State Government Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, Jacobs, PCL Construction among nation's top state government design and construction firms, according to BD+C's 2013 Giants 300 Report.
