New airport will reflect flow of history

The concept design for the Beijing New Airport Terminal Building was done by ADP Ingenierie and Zaha Hadid Architects. Provided to China Daily

"The design celebrates the excitement of air travel expressed as a sequence of dynamic and fluid forms. We have developed broad, flowing rooflines over large, column-free spaces to provide a sense of scale and grandeur to Beijing's new gateway," the spokesman said.

All the pathways through the terminal will converge in a flowing central space, creating a multi-layer "urban space" and providing an "exciting place of convergence" for travelers, he added.

The design will reduce passenger transfer distances between departure gates and minimize distances between ground transportation and the aircraft.

Construction of the 79.9 billion yuan ($13.1 billion) airport began on Dec 26 and will take about five years to complete.

ADPI stressed the design's low carbon status, saying: "(It) provides a unique opportunity to embed sustainability at the heart of the design philosophy. It will aspire to be Asia's leading green hub of choice."

The aim is to minimize dependence on natural resources so that the airport will "tread lightly on the earth", the company said.

The airport will be able to handle 72 million passengers, 2 million metric tons of cargo and mail, and 620,000 flights annually by 2025, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, which approved the plan on Dec 15. It is expected to become operational in 2019.

The new hub is being developed to relieve pressure on the Beijing Capital International Airport, completed in 2008 and now operating beyond its capacity.

Carlotta Clivio contributed to this story.