Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 7.5 million-square-foot Beijing Daxing International Airport has opened as the world’s largest single-building terminal. The gigantic airport is expected to host 45 million annual travelers, with an aim to increase the number to 72 million people by 2025.
Interconnected facilities of the new airport are oriented around a central courtyard, which includes 79 gates linked directly to the terminal, allowing them to simultaneously process the passengers as many as six full A380 aircrafts. Six flowing forms inside the vaulted terminal reach the ground floor to support structural spans of up to 330 feet. Crafted with a sensitivity for sustainability, the new airport features technologies such as the Photovoltaic power generation installed throughout, a composite ground-source heat pump system supporting centralized heating with waste heat recovery, in addition to the advanced water management tools for collecting excess rainwater.
