Two Norwegian architect companies gain international attention for their plans for one of the biggest airports in the world, Istanbul New Airport.
A trio, consisting of one British and two Norwegian architect companies, has been appointed to design the first phase of the terminal, which is scheduled to open in 2019.
While the conceptual design of the airport is by Norwegian Haptic Architects and Nordic Office of Architecture, the detailed architectural design is by British Grimshaw Architects.
Istanbul’s gigantic new hub will have six runways, the world’s biggest duty free shop, flights to 350 destinations, Europe’s largest car park, with 24,000 spaces, and a capacity of 150 million passengers, when it is fully operational by 2028.
Located on the black sea, 35 kilometers outside of the Turkish city, the project is on track to become the world’s largest airport terminal, with a gross floor area close to one million square meters.
Istanbul New Airport, the name given to the project so far, will have four phases, the first aiming to serve 90 million annual passengers.
Despite its enormous scale, the building retains a human scale throughout with an expansive central plaza and a traffic forecourt, which serves as a hub integrating rail, metro, bus and car transportation. Project bosses are thereby aiming to simplify passenger flow with spacious terminals, ‘comfortable’ walking distances and new technology.
Grimshaw partner, Andrew Thomas commented, “We are delighted to have been appointed to this bold and aspirational project. We share the consortium’s ambitions to develop a truly outstanding airport design worthy of the world city of istanbul.”
“We are glad to be able to respond to the high demands of the client and create an exceptional solution, both in terms of functionality and architecture,” added Gudmund Stokke principal partner of Nordic.
Airport of the Future, written by Tor Kjolberg
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