The unprecedented scale of China’s aviation boom prompted an international competition to design a new airport for Beijing, with the capacity to handle over 100 million passengers a year. Engaged as consultants on the Foster & Partners entry, CivicArts’ major contribution was the dramatic re-imagining of the traditional ‘Landside/Airside’ concept that saw this airport treated as a city in microcosm, complete with retail, hotels, convention centres and entertainment amenities. Flooded with natural light filtered between swooping roof forms the airy arcades, lounges and departure halls set new benchmarks for efficiency, dramatically shortening the distance between entry and boarding while providing a much higher levels of amenity and comfort. Straddling the spine of a rapid transit system the series of self-contained terminals create a chain of genuine destinations.

 

Client: Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)