airspeeder teams up with HOK to design world’s first modular vertiport for flying car racing

modular vertiport by HOK for airspeeder and its flying cars

Airspeeder partners with HOK to design the world’s first modular vertiport for an airborne racetrack and flying car racing. The architectural firm is the mastermind behind Terminal B in New York, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. With Airspeeder, they are working on a vertiport dubbed the Skydeck, which doubles as an event space. It’s a multi-functional hub just under the airborne circuit. Large, panoramic windows wrap around the exterior, allowing viewers to watch the flying car matches clearly.

The same spot also offers a view of everything, from the race grid to the pit stops and finish lines. It’s the Skydeck that’s modular. Its initial design can accommodate up to 10 teams and 20 Airspeeders, but over time, the development team can expand the structure by adding more units to cater to additional viewers, teams, and flying cars. HOK’s design also features what they call an ‘airside’ zone, an area where teams have private workspaces to operate on and analyze their flying cars within the modular vertiport.

all iamges courtesy of Airspeeder and HOK

Airside zone with retractable landing and take-off pads

In the airside zone, retractable landing and take-off pads are placed, allowing pit stops mid-race to change batteries if needed. The modular vertiport for flying cars is set to be powered by solar panels, as HOK installs infrastructure dedicated to them. While there’s no specific location yet for the architectural firm and Airspeeder’s vertiport, the imagery suggests it could be in a desert environment. In this scenario, solar panels would be an ideal solution, given their ability to absorb and supply energy from sunlight.

The eVTOL company also partners with Saltwater Games, the creators of the Airspeeder game Celeros, for the ‘simulator’ of the flying cars, which is expected to be present in the modular vertiport as well as online. Airspeeder also taps INK Agency for all the imagery of the current concept, as well as Epidemic Sound for all sound design. So far, no announcements yet on when and where the world’s first modular airborne racetrack is expected to be built.

view of the modular veritport for flying cars