zaha hadid architects' daxing airport with the world's largest terminal opens in beijing

zaha hadid architects’ 700,000 sqm daxing international airport in beijing was inaugurated yesterday, september 25, 2019. nicknamed ‘the starfish’, the airport boasts the world’s largest single-building terminal, initially serving 45 million passengers per year and expected to accommodate 72 million by 2025, while it is planned for further expansion to serve up to 100 million travelers and four million tonnes of cargo annually

all images by hufton+crow unless stated otherwise

located in the daxing district, 46km south of beijing’s city center, the zaha hadid-designed airport has been developed to alleviate congestion at the chinese capital’s existing airport, which is currently operating at full capacity. the 700,000 sqm compact passenger terminal includes an 80,000 sqm ground transportation center, which offers direct connections to beijing, the national high-speed rail network and local train services. image by NKCHU

the terminal’s architecture echoes principles of traditional chinese architecture that organizes interconnected spaces around a central courtyard. its design guides all passengers seamlessly through the relevant zones and towards a grand courtyard at the center – a multi-layered meeting space at the heart of the terminal. six flowing forms within the terminal’s vaulted roof reach to the ground to support the structure and bring natural light within, which also enters the terminal via a network of linear skylights that provide an intuitive system of navigation throughout the building. structural spans of up to 100m create the terminal’s generous public spaces and allow the highest degree of flexibility for any future reconfiguration.

image by NKCHU

the compact radial design of the terminal provides convenience for passengers and flexibility in operations as it allows a maximum number of aircraft to be parked directly at the terminal with minimum distances from the center of the building. 79 gates with airbridges connect directly to the terminal, which can rapidly process the passengers of six full A380 aircraft simultaneously. the radial configuration ensures the farthest boarding gate can be accessed in a walking time of less than eight minutes.

image via daxing pkx airport

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project info:

name: beijing daxing international airport (PKX)

architect / joint design team: zaha hadid architects and adp ingeniérie (ADPI)

location: daxing, beijing & guangyang, langfang (hebei)

client: beijing new airport construction headquarters

project directors (ZHA): cristiano ceccato, charles walker, mouzhan majidi

project design director (ZHA): paulo flores

project architect (ZHA): lydia kim

project coordination (ZHA): eugene leung, shao-wei huang

project team (ZHA): uli blum, antonio monserrat, alberto moletto, sophie davison, carolina lopez-blanco, shaun farrell, junyi wang, ermis chalvatzis, rafael contreras, michael grau, fernando poucell, gerry cruz, filipa gomez, kyla farrell, natassa lianou, teoman ayas, peter logan, yun zhang, karoly markos, irene guerra

beijing team (ZHA): satoshi ohashi, rita lee, yang jingwen, lillie liu, juan liu

local design institutes: BIAD (beijing institute of architecture & design) + CACC (china airport construction company)

consortium team (competition stage): pascall + watson, burohappold engineering, mott macdonald, EC harris consultants, mckinsey & company, dunnett craven, triagonal, logplan, sensing places, SPADA