Sprawled over a considerable 4.9 million square feet, the gleaming, futuristic terminal of Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport looks like it might itself be poised for takeoff. And if we weren’t otherwise informed, we’d perhaps think that this structure was a spacecraft from the latest science-fiction blockbuster, rather than China’s newest airport terminal.
The Shenzhen International Airport is located 20 miles from downtown Shenzhen. It’s an airport that’s been running since 1991, but operations at its three former terminals ceased the day before the new terminal opened for business. In its new incarnation, Shenzhen’s airport is the fourth biggest in the country, and by the end of the decade it will be able to cope with 45 million passengers a year. The demand for flights in China is increasing rapidly. In the period from January to the end of October 2013, Chinese airlines saw an 11 percent growth in the number of passengers traveling by air. It is hoped that the new terminal is in a position to make the most of these swelling numbers.
International architecture firm Studio Fuksas designed the airport to be suggestive of a manta ray while also looking like an aircraft when seen from above. A fusion of the natural and the technological, you might say. The external and internal walls form a double layer that, replete with glass panels, bathes the interior space in plenty of daylight. In terms of materials used, the building was made out of steel with a substructure of concrete.
Back in 2008, Husband and wife partnership Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas were successful in a worldwide competition to design the airport terminal. Construction continued up until 2013, with the re-imagined airport opening on November 28. The first flight from the new terminal was by Shenzhen Airlines, whose plane took off that morning with 165 passengers on their way to Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.
On the inside, the airport looks just as futuristic as it does from the outside. Tall white pillars fill the interior, while air-conditioning vents take on the appearance of branching tree-like structures, also colored white. Much as in a gigantic cathedral, there is a real sense of space, and the streams of light that shine in through the honeycombed walls and ceilings emphasize the effect. The glass panels of the shell can be opened a little, too.
As well as letting dappled light enter, the honeycomb design regulates heat from the sun and filters out loud aircraft noises. The structure is the first terminal in the country to be certified with China’s National Green Building Star Label (2-Star). Other sustainable elements include a solar-powered water-heating system, efficient air conditioning, and storage for cold water. Together, these sustainable aspects will slash energy costs by a quarter.
The airport’s cross-shaped plan is made up of three sections, comprising the primary building, plus a pair of huge corridors that each measure 3,444 feet in length and 2,132 feet widthways. The main building has six levels, four of which are above ground while two are below. There are 192 check-in desks and 62 boarding gates, and the terminal has been designed to accept any kind of airplane.
Naturally, safety is a priority in a high-traffic structure such as this, and engineering and planning company Arup was tasked with helping to work out a strategy with a view to any possibility of a fire event. Due to the building’s spacious interior and elaborate steel shell, it was a challenge to work out how the public could be safely evacuated while keeping smoke in check and safeguarding the terminal’s structure. That said, the team came up with an efficient solution.
The new terminal is not without its doubters, however. Neil Taylor owned Regent Holidays, a travel company that helped lead the way with trips to China, and he wonders just how attractive Shenzhen is as an international destination. “Shenzhen had its appeal as a small village when China first opened up in the late 1970s,” Taylor is quoted as saying in The Independent. “But tour operators will find it hard to promote now.”
In order to expand the airport, 21.8 billion yuan ($3.58 billion) have been invested into the project. This includes the development of a hotel, a second runway, a cargo terminal and a business complex, in addition to the new 8.5 billion yuan ($1.39 billion) passenger terminal shown here. According to The Wall Street Journal’s China Realtime blog, over the years Shenzhen’s airport has been drawing travelers away from its counterpart in nearby Hong Kong because of the accessibility to mainland China it offers, not to mention its cheaper prices.
Things didn’t go completely smoothly for the new terminal on its first day of operation. Passengers complained that the personnel weren’t conversant with new systems, and on one flight seven people missed the plane thanks to a miscommunication over times. Other glitches included repeatedly changing gate number messages and moving walkways that went in just one direction. Still, perhaps such hiccups are to be expected on a first new day.
While there may still be issues to be ironed out with the new Shenzhen terminal, one aspect about it that almost everyone seems to agree on is the incredible architecture. “The design is very impressive, clean, bright and modern,” said passenger Wendy Xu. That said, although she liked the look of the terminal, she was a little concerned that the honeycomb-like pattern might be an issue for people with trypophobia – the fear of repetitive holes. We’re guessing that’s one possibility the designers didn’t think to consider.