Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport Terminal A: “The World’s Most Beautiful Airport”
Dominating a key position in the global race for fast-expanding luxury air travel and transfer points, Terminal A processes 45 million travelers each year, with the ability to accommodate up to 80 million, to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding Middle East capital. Featuring a curvilinear metal design that evokes the shape and movement of a desert scorpion, Zayed International Airport was named a “World’s Most Beautiful” Laureate by Prix Versaille.
On approaching the airport, the roadway system and landscaping work together to create a sequence of events culminating in a monumental civic space inside the terminal. Internally the scale of the Departure Hall, a 50-meter-high space rendered largely column-free through the use of long span leaning arches, endows the building with an open, outdoor quality, with the supporting arches visually separated from the roof to enhance the lightweight feel. On plan, the X-shape provides the greatest programmatic efficiencies enabling the terminal to extend to 49 gatehouses, accommodating 59 aircraft at any one time.
Credit: Beno Saradzic, Victor Romero
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