The multifaceted project consists of a large passenger terminal, maintenance and cargo areas, and ‘Airport City’ – a cohesive open urban space in the centre of parallel takeoff and landing runways modeled on the traditional Brandenburg landscape. Together, these elements form an architectural and functional unit aligned along an overall axial format. The design goal was to create a building with its own succinct identity whilst simultaneously uniting disparate parts into one harmonious structural layout.
Functionally, the airport is an international air hub which will see up to 27 million passengers transiting per annum. The architects used an urban design concept to drive the project, ensuring that the airport is perceived as part of a coherent railway, road, and aviation hub, and is also able to adapt to future development and expansion including increases in passenger traffic.
To realize this goal, gmp created a manual of design principles which were to be commonly used by all stakeholders in the design process. This manual covered town planning, functional design, and aesthetic concept for the airport at all scales, ranging from urban design, to the main axes, and including all dimensional systems and all volumes, materials, colour schemes, and even furniture.
The entire scheme was developed on a basic horizontal 6.25 metre grid which when multiplied by a factor of 7 created a 43.75 m ‘supermodule’ corresponding to the parking width required for all category C aircraft (including the Airbus A320, Berlin’s most frequently transiting aircraft). This large 43.75 m grid also determines the spacing of the main piers and check-in area columns. Playing on this common denominator allows the dimensions of large planes to be experienced at human scale and adds a cohesive feel through overall structural design as well as in more detailed elements such as the pattern of the natural stone flooring.
Other key parameters framing the terminal building design philosophy were modularity and maximising functional flexibility. These were important as the terminal forms not just the architectural but also the structural core of the airport. The high and airy terminal consists of a main hall and a series of piers. The piers form a colonnade motif which symbolise the transition between architecture and landscape and create a unique characteristic style. The hall accommodates most key functions including check-in and baggage handling. Passenger flows from the air-side and land-side converge here, and a custom solution of adding three-story bridges was developed to direct passengers accordingly to separate arrival and departure levels, as well as managing the flow of EU vs international passengers through different routes.
Clearly delineated spatial arrangements and abundant natural light ensure easy orientation for passengers, and this effect is further enhanced by the hall’s 20 m high façade. The façade structure is based on a pre-tensioned cable system that only shows horizontal profiles, allowing passengers unobstructed panoramic views of the planes outside. The 49,000 sq. m roof of the 220 m long terminal building is supported by nearly 30 m high steel columns (also spaced at 43.75 m repeating the iterative spatial motif), and unites all the various functions from drop-off to piers and connecting the land-side and air-side areas.
Taken as a whole, the Willy Brandt Airport at Brandenburg forms a road, rail, and aviation hub created with a truly modern functional capacity yet through clever and forward-thinking design still captures the distinct characteristic of the Brandenburg region and creates a welcoming and high efficiency transit space for global travelers.
