Lishui Airport in China’s eastern Zhejiang Province and designed by MAD Architects, has opened to the public following a 17-year design and construction phase.
The 12,000-sq-m terminal building is designed to appear as a giant white bird resting among the mountains, with a double-layered roof clad in silver-white aluminium evoking a scene of “mist-covered hills and birds in flight”.
Fourteen umbrella-shaped structural columns support the 14m-tall lightweight roof, while a spindle-shaped skylight allows daylight into the interior.
Transparent curtain walls blur the boundary between inside and out and a sloping first-floor lobby varies between 4.5m to 13m in height, with narrow acoustic slots embedded between interior panels to quiet the ambient noise.
Below the terminal a sunken parking structure follows the topography while a landscaped promenade runs under the building to guide passengers up to the departure hall.
The airport has eight aircraft bays and can accommodate a million passengers and 4,000 tonnes of cargo a year.
Construction required significant earthworks with cut-and-fill differences often reaching nearly 100m.
The project was conceived in 2008 and was originally due to open in 2024.
At first it will handle domestic flights, but it has been designed to allow for a future international terminal that could expand passenger capacity to 5 million a year by 2050.
Ma Yansong, MAD Architects’ founder, said: “We used materials with warm tones and natural textures to create a bright and airy interior. By adopting a one and a half story layout, the airport remains compact, while supporting daily comfort and engaging in a dialogue with nature.”
- Subscribe to our newsletter here to receive construction news and insights from around the world straight to your inbox
