Zurich Airport has revealed the design of its new Dock A facility, which consists of a mass timber terminal and control tower, designed by Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and US firm HOK.
The construction is planned to begin in 2030 and open in 2032, and will include a air-side retail, lounges, offices, a new air traffic control tower and an extension of the immigration hall.
The building will be made largely with locally sourced wood, built to reflect alpine buildings and on the long-standing tradition of wood buildings in Switzerland. Timber will be used within the interior as well as for the floors and ceilings.
The main structure of the terminal will be formed with V-shaped timber columns, and there will be a linear skylight that will let daylight into the building.
Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG, commented: “As airports grow and evolve and as international guidelines and safety requirements change, airports tend to become more and more complex: Frankensteins of interconnected elements, patches and extensions.
“For the new main terminal of Zurich Airport, we have attempted to answer this complex challenge with the simplest possible response: a mass timber space frame that is structural design, spatial experience, architectural finish, and organisational principle in one.”
