Starting from Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing and 46 kilometers south along the extension of the central axis, the Beijing New Airport is growing every day and taking on a different look every month. One year later, in October 2019, this super-large airport, shining golden in the sun, will spread its wings like a phoenix, attracting global attention with its agile posture.
The new airport is located at a special geographical coordinate - the southernmost end of Beijing's central axis. The symbolic significance of the central axis adds many challenges to the design of the new airport. It must connect with tradition and echo Tiananmen, the Bell and Drum Towers, and the Bird's Nest in terms of spiritual temperament and cultural connotation. It is even more future-oriented here. The new airport is 55 kilometers away from Xiongan New Area and will directly serve the connection between Xiongan and the world. This will definitely be a future-oriented airport.
It is expected that by 2040, the new airport will handle more than 100 million passengers per year. They will gather or leave here, return home, or fly to the next stop in life.
The farthest boarding gate is only an 8-minute walk
The planning of Beijing’s new airport has been brewing since the 1990s. It can be said to be the project of the century.
The site selection process began in 1993, when Beijing initially planned two medium-sized airport sites in Zhangjiawan and Pangezhuang. In 2002, the Capital Airport began to expand. The Civil Aviation Administration of China took the lead in organizing a site selection survey and selected four alternative sites. Among them, Jiuzhou, northwest of Langfang City, was the preferred site. In 2004, the Beijing Municipal Planning Commission revised the "Beijing Master Plan" and conducted a new round of in-depth research on the location of the new airport. Four alternative sites were also selected, among which Beijing Daxing was recommended. Two sites, Nangezhuang and Xixiaotun, Gu'an, Hebei, are reserved in the revision of urban planning.
After more than ten years, in 2006, a new round of site selection work was officially launched. More than ten sites in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei were compared at one time. Until 2009, finally Nangezhuang, Daxing, Beijing, was determined as the preferred site for the following reasons: it is close to the main source of passengers, has better airspace environment and external supporting conditions, and is conveniently connected to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and is more suitable for the construction of a large airport.
After the dust settled on the site selection, the planning work of the new airport began to proceed in full swing, and the bidding for the terminal building plan was the top priority.
The solicitation of design proposals for the new airport terminal has been launched since 2010. Guo Yanchi, chief engineer of the Beijing New Airport Construction Headquarters, told reporters that before the new airport was invited to bid for the project, a leading planning principle was determined: a centralized flight area, a north-south terminal layout, and a north-south passenger capacity of about 3:7. Beihang Airlines The main terminal building + satellite hall concentrated in the station area are planned to be constructed in phases, corresponding to the annual passenger volume of 45 million and 72 million passengers respectively.
The program bidding was officially launched in 2011, and several design units shortlisted for the final bid are very well-known around the world. The Architectural Design Company of Paris Airports Group (ADPI) is a strong and famous company in the field of global airport design, and has left many classic works, including Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, and Shanghai Pudong Airport. The British firm Foster + Partners is the designer of the T3 terminal of Beijing Capital Airport. Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute has participated in the design of a number of domestic landmark buildings, including the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games and the Capital Airport T3 Terminal. The Civil Aviation Design Institute is responsible for the planning and design of more than 70% of domestic airports. Zaha Hadid Architects is named after the late Ms. Zaha Hadid, and its unique "Zaha Curve" is highly recognized around the world.
“Zaha Hadid Architects initially wanted to work with us to jointly design, but we wanted to be original, so we declined the cooperation.” Ma Long, dean of the Fourth Branch of the Beijing Institute, told.
The Civil Aviation Academy and the Beijing Academy finally chose to join forces and formed the strongest design consortium in China.
“The ranking of conceptual design plans at that time was that ADPI was first, Domestic Consortium was second, Foster was third, and Zaha was fourth.” Ma Long recalled. ?
ADPI finally won the bid and won the bid for the design plan of Beijing’s new airport terminal.
The winning proposal has a simple configuration: there is only one terminal building, with a single point as the center and five corridors extending out, and the entire terminal building has a radial configuration.
At the same time, a landside corridor was added to the open front area of ??the building, forming a balanced layout of six corridors. The angle between each two corridors is 60 degrees.
Ma Long found that what is interesting is that the six corridors are exactly opposite to three axes, pointing to Beijing, Xiongan, and Tianjin respectively. "This concept did not exist in the early stages of the plan, and it is also a wonderful coincidence."< /p>
Behind the simple plan, there is a profound meaning. Airport terminal plans are often the result of a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors such as functionality and artistry, practical needs and long-term goals. In the opinion of many design participants, the most important reason why the ADPI solution was selected was because it emphasized functionality first.
Ma Long’s colleague Wang Xiaoqun, a designer at the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design and Research, started designing airports more than ten years ago and is still the person in charge of the design of Beijing’s new airport. Wang Xiaoqun entered the field of airport design in 2004. The first project he participated in was the Capital Airport T3 Terminal. After more than ten years, he has been deeply involved in this field and has done more and more airport projects.
“For large centralized terminals, it is necessary to have enough outer contour length to connect a large number of aircraft and vehicles, and to control the walking distance of passengers inside the building. The two form a configuration. There are two main contradictions in the design, so the radial or quasi-radial type has become an important choice for this type of terminal building configuration." In a recent article, Wang Xiaoqun elaborated on the reasons behind the terminal building configuration plan. Considerations.
For example, the T3 terminal of Capital Airport has a design capacity of 43 million passengers per year. Due to limitations of surrounding conditions, the distance between the runways on both sides of T3 is only 1,525 meters, which is the minimum distance required to meet the conditions for independent takeoff and landing of aircraft on both sides. This long and narrow land compresses the T3 terminal into a vertical one. The two sets of contact taxiways in the middle divide the terminal into three sections. Domestic is at the near end on the south side (T3C), and international is at the far north side. Terminal (T3E), underground passenger rapid transit, high-speed luggage and various service channels connect the three terminals in series.
As for Beijing New Airport, the single-point radiation configuration effectively controls the length of the terminal corridor, and the zoning operation mode in the building further shortens the walking distance of passengers. The longest walking distance for passengers after security check It is about 600 meters, and the normal walking time is 8 minutes. It not only avoids the construction of an internal MRT system, but also achieves efficient and convenient travel for passengers.
In Wang Xiaoqun’s view, the most fundamental reason why this plan was selected is the radial shape in the plan. “The radial shape is a very basic shape. As the airport scale increases, parking spaces increase, and passengers must be controlled. "The radial layout can solve this problem." Wang Xiaoqun told reporters that there has always been debate in the industry about whether the terminal is better to be decentralized or centralized.
For example, the original bidding plan of the British Foster Company was to operate in four units. Passengers in each unit would have a shorter walking distance, but transfers between different units would become more troublesome. Wang Xiaoqun said that as a hub airport, transfer is a very important function. If the transfer connection is far away, the hub operation efficiency of the airport will decrease. "But the walking distance of passengers is only a measurement dimension, and it is difficult to say it is the decisive factor."
The different national conditions between China and foreign countries will also have an impact on the planning of the terminal building. Wang Xiaoqun introduced that foreign airport construction mainly focuses on airlines, and often each airline only builds one building. The construction process is to gradually increase the amount, and it is rarely completed at one time. However, domestic airport passenger traffic is growing rapidly and expectations for future capacity are high, so they tend to choose more complete centralized solutions.
The centralized layout also has an upper limit and cannot be infinite, otherwise it will bring new problems, such as traffic pressure. When all external traffic is concentrated in one terminal area, whether it is bearable is an issue that must be considered. . There is also the complexity of the entire system. If the system is too large, the complexity will increase significantly, which will not only bring trouble to the airport construction, but also be detrimental to future operations.
In addition to the perspective of passengers, there is also the perspective of aircraft and pilots. The convenience of parking and entry and exit of aircraft all involves the operational efficiency of the airport, and are all factors to be considered in the terminal configuration.
In Ma Long's view, the current parking angle of T3 at the Capital Airport is 120 degrees, which makes it very comfortable for aircraft to enter and exit. As for Beijing's new airport, the angles between the six corridors are evenly divided into 60 degrees, which is an acute angle. In theory, it is definitely not as convenient as having planes arranged in a straight line for parking and departure.
However, because the scale of the new airport building is large enough, the absolute space is still large, which can form a large open area and facilitate the entry and exit of aircraft.
"After we slimmed down the original plan, the final absolute size of the terminal building is still very large. The width of the main building is 350 meters, and the parking bay arc is large and wide, making it easier for aircraft to enter and exit." Wang Xiaoqun explained, Under this design, the entire new airport terminal can park 79 aircraft, mostly large aircraft. The three corridors are all double-side parking, only two are single-side parking, and there are many combined aircraft seats. The parking efficiency is overall good.
“For the scale of Beijing’s new airport, this design is smart.” But for some small and medium-sized airports, Ma Long does not recommend this plan because the building scale may not be enough.
“The angle between each corridor is 60 degrees. This is a very complete form, including a comprehensive service building in front, which is half hotel and half office, providing some space for the terminal. Close service." Wang Xiaoqun said that in general, the main building is more centralized, the walking distance for passengers is shorter, and the architectural form is more complete, which are the biggest features of the new airport terminal.
“The planning and design of Beijing’s new airport first follows a goal-oriented and problem-oriented approach, that is, targeting the airport’s functional positioning and capacity requirements.” Guo Yanchi concluded that the final design results were based on various issues, The result of a contradictory balance.
The birth of Sunshine Canyon
From winning the bid to starting construction, the new airport plan still has a long way to go.
After ADPI’s plan won the bid, Zaha Hadid Architects was also invited by the New Airport Construction Command to join in for joint design.
“This is an exciting project.” Yu Ohashi, director of the Beijing office of Zaha Hadid Architects, recalled to China News Weekly that ADPI and Zaha Hadid Architects began to work together to optimize the winning bid. , it took six months of polishing before being submitted to the Chinese design team, which was taken over by the Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute and China Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group.
If ADPI has given Beijing’s new airport its profound understanding of airport functions, then Zaha Hadid Architects has given the new airport more architectural beauty.
In the design of the Zaha Hadid team, lighting and the commercial area are the two highlights, and its iconic "Zaha Curve" also has a more romantic expression.
“Imagine the sun-drenched mountaintops and the flowers that change colors with the seasons. If these wonderful natural scenes can be integrated into architectural design, it will be an intoxicating work.” Ohashi said , the new airport is shaped like a bouquet of flowers, and each corridor can be seen as a petal. "The sunlight extends from the top of the flower to each petal, shining in every corner of the interior, which can create a bright indoor impression."< /p>
What realizes this romantic intention is the most unique part of the new airport terminal’s shape, the C-shaped pillar design. Inside the entire terminal, there are eight huge C-shaped pillars. The so-called C type means that the pillars are not sealed and have a C shape in every cross section.
This is an extremely bold design. Imagine that the roof steel structure in the core area of ??the terminal has a projected area of ??180,000 square meters. It mainly uses 8 C-shaped columns and 12 tower columns to support the roof in the central area. The distance between C-shaped columns is as long as 200 meters. meters, the space in the middle can completely accommodate the entire "Water Cube". The advantage of this is that more space can be given up to serve passengers, instead of allowing many structures to occupy space and cause inconvenience to passengers, so the number of supporting structures has been reduced to the limit.
This is also a very artistic idea. The C-shaped pillar is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The narrowest point at the bottom is only 3 meters, and the maximum span at the top reaches 23 meters. The shape is very flexible. Looking from the bottom up, it looks like a flower extending out of the soil, while looking from the top down, it looks like the roof "extends" to the ground.
In Ma Long's view, such a design is no longer the traditional concept of "column", but a natural extension from the roof, and the roof and columns have been integrated.
The C-shaped column that "extends" to the ground is a perfect combination of function and form. It is both a supporting component and a window for indoor lighting. Natural light pours down from the C-shaped opening, forming a A huge waterfall of light. At the same time, there is a huge hexagonal core skylight at the center top of the terminal building. A strip of skylight is laid on the top of each corridor, running through the entire 600-meter corridor, which can introduce sufficient sunlight into the interior. , it also makes it easier for travelers to follow the light and become a guide in the direction.
The design of Zaha Hadid team has always valued the use of natural light, because it can not only save lighting energy, but also provide a comfortable sensory experience. Ohashi Yu told reporters that Ms. Zaha Hadid has high expectations for Beijing’s new airport. She was deeply involved in the design of Beijing’s new airport and provided many passionate and imaginative ideas.
“The C-shaped column itself is an important node of each functional space, and the lighting is also arranged around the C-shaped column. It is a significant space symbol and makes the interior bright.” Wang Xiaoqun said that the design team made different design changes throughout the day. Under light conditions, lighting simulation, "When the weather is good, in the open area of ????the terminal during the day, there is no need to turn on indoor lights."
The design of the new airport business area is more With natural and smart charm. The "central lobby" where the entire business area is located is the core area of ??the terminal.
This 13,000-square-meter commercial area looks like a "canyon" when viewed from a height. The roof reaches a maximum of 49 meters, dynamically rising and falling with the demand for internal space. The "Canyon" is divided into five floors. The first and second floors are the arrival floors, the third and fourth floors are the departure floors, and the fifth floor is the business area, which is also the "floor for saying goodbye to relatives and friends." Standing on this floor, you can watch your relatives and friends go away all the time. go.
At the bottom of the "canyon", there are many independent commercial islands. Ohashi calls these commercial islands shopping pods (beans). "Shopping pods are like pebbles in the canyon, which can naturally disperse the flow of people like dispersing water while making the indoor space more flexible."
Ohashi Yu showed two pictures to illustrate the entire "Central Canyon" design inspiration. One picture is Antelope Canyon in the United States, and the other picture is a forest stream. Under his explanation, the scene of the entire "Central Canyon" of the new airport began to become three-dimensional: the naturally curved edge of the canyon, with layers upon layers of bottom, sunlight penetrating the canyon from the top, and a stream running through it. The stream was dotted with many stones, and the water flowed around it. Walk slowly over the rocks.
“A building is by no means a container. We hope to integrate the concept of nature’s creation into the architectural design and have multiple humanized functions. Such works may become unique organic buildings. The design work is not only about designing the building itself, but also about designing the city and human life. We enjoy this process very much," Ohashi said with a smile.
Before the new airport, Zaha Hadid Architects had completed many works in China, such as Galaxy SOHO in Beijing, Wangjing SOHO, Guangzhou Grand Theater, etc., and gradually accumulated architectural design experience and architectural technology in China. The rapid development also provides greater room for its unique natural design concept.
“Zaha Hadid’s designs are imaginative, bold and natural in beauty.” Ma Long commented.
The Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute, where Ma Long works, once participated in the design of Beijing T3 Terminal as a Chinese team and cooperated with the British Foster + Partners. "Foster is recognized as the best firm in the architectural circle, with excellent technology, art, and control capabilities." Ma Long recalled that the design of T3 Terminal was very enjoyable and many people were introduced from Foster Firm. Concepts, especially modular design concepts, "Modular buildings are like precision machines, with rational aesthetics. The introduction of these concepts is like opening a window for Chinese designers."
In Ma Long’s view, in the Beijing new airport plan, ADPI’s functional plan and Zaha Hadid’s imaginative styling are the finishing touch, which is a mature work that fully integrates architectural rationality and architectural beauty.
Airport on the central axis
After the cooperation plan between ADPI and Zaha Hadid team was formed, Beijing Architectural Design Institute and China Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group began to take over the plan.
"We took over at the end of 2014. In March 2015, the optimization plan was basically finalized, and then entered the technical design stage. In August 2015, the preliminary plan for the technical design was completed, and a number of technologies were determined Indicators, such as building scale, parking spaces, process organization, etc., passed the preliminary design review in October. "Wang Xiaoqun told China News Weekly that the entire design cycle was relatively tight because the new airport terminal project started in October 2015. Construction is about to officially start.
“The two design consortiums have optimized the scheme and completed the subsequent design work in accordance with domestic regulations. The currently implemented design is consistent with the original conceptual design in terms of building functional layout, architectural shape, and structural plan. Big adjustments.
"Guo Yanchi told China News Weekly that in the subsequent optimization process, the most changed part was the C-shaped pillar.
In the original concept plan, the openings of the six C-shaped pillars were all facing the center, forming an enclosure. . But the Chinese design team reversed the opening direction of the C-shaped pillars, no longer facing inward, but all facing outwards, and added two C-shaped pillars according to structural needs. Wang Xiaoqun told China News Weekly that the adjustment brought the biggest impact. The advantage is that it increases the uniformity of lighting in the building. In the original plan, the lighting is concentrated in the central area. "The lighting in the core is already very good, so it is no longer needed. Instead, the peripheral areas need more light." "The adjustment of the C-shaped column support direction has brought great changes to the entire building. In addition to changes in the structural stress system, it has also brought great changes to the indoor space.
Another significant change is Building scale. Compared with the plan, the actual size of the terminal has been significantly slimmed down. Due to construction funding considerations, the actual area of ??the terminal has been changed, and the overall terminal radius has been reduced by 30 meters. . Among them, the width of the far end of the corridor has been reduced from 46 meters to 42 meters, and the length has been reduced from 630 meters to 600 meters. As a result, the number of near-machine seats has been reduced from the original design of 84.
The design height of the terminal building has also been reduced from 80 meters to 50 meters to ensure more reasonable functional zoning, which is conducive to improving operational efficiency and also conducive to the adoption of natural lighting and natural ventilation design on the roof.
What should the airport do? Is it better to build a bigger one to meet the current needs? The current three terminals of the Capital Airport are almost always insufficient and always reach saturation in advance. "The day the airport is built is the time to expand."
In order to solve the problem of insufficient airport capacity, Guo Yanchi said that the new airport adheres to the principle of "one planning and design, phased construction and implementation" based on the target demand of the new airport terminal's annual passenger throughput of more than 100 million passengers. , the new airport plan includes 6 runways, with one terminal area in the north and one in the south. "This blueprint will be implemented through at least three phases of construction. The corresponding annual passenger throughputs in the first two phases are 45 million and 72 million respectively. . "Guo Yanchi said that this method not only meets the functional needs of the airport, but also reasonably controls the amount of funds invested at each stage to ensure the sustainable development of the airport.
The Chinese design team also incorporated many Chinese elements into it. Guo Yanchi said that the mesh steel structure on the top surface of the airport has obvious curves and density, implying the intention of auspicious clouds. The dense hexagonal lighting windows in the central area of ??the terminal resemble the caisson of the traditional Chinese courtyard. The ground is carefully designed with a mosaic pattern, which when viewed from a distance, has the connotation of colorful falling leaves. There are two bridges on the fourth floor of the International Departure Level, with flowing and elegant shapes, like dancing water sleeves and ribbons.
The most eye-catching Chinese-style design is concentrated at the end of the five-finger corridor, where five characteristic courtyards are set up. Guo Yanchi told China News Weekly that the themes of the five courtyards are silk garden, tea garden, porcelain garden, pastoral garden, and Chinese garden. Echoing the connotation of the Silk Road, and bringing a Chinese garden-style waiting experience to passengers, "the courtyard decoration will be carried out around the theme, and special shopping spots may be appropriately added on the basis of ornamental value and knowledge popularization, and smoking areas will be set up." district. ”
As the capital’s new airport, it also has a special identity. It is the new national gate, a display window for the country’s image and the city entrance to Beijing, and bears the expression of special political and cultural meanings.
The new airport is located at the southernmost end of Beijing’s central axis. Guo Yanchi said frankly that the location was not chosen because it was the central axis, but was decided after a combination of factors. “And this happens to be the location. central axis. ”
Located on the central axis, the new airport plan poses more challenges and needs to consider more factors besides functionality. For example, to maintain the integrity of the axis, the new airport must be on the entire axis. There is no physical obstruction to maintain the continuity of the axis. In addition, the central axis buildings generally have a symmetrical layout, and the new airport perfectly reflects this specificity. The new airport is divided into two completely symmetrical east and west parts along the north and south corridors. It is used by the two main base airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, and has a clear functional distinction.
“As a national gateway, the overall exterior shape of Beijing New Airport should reflect the national image and provide a close-up impression. It requires careful design and construction, including the lighting of the internal space, the comfort of the environment, etc. "Wang Xiaoqun said that as the gateway airport of the capital, it has high architectural requirements and needs to create an industry benchmark for civil aviation.
Integration of fast process and multi-function
The airport is a highly functional building, and safety and efficiency are the core demands of airport design.
In Guo Yanchi’s view, the operational efficiency of Beijing’s new airport is the result of the comprehensive effect of “system engineering”, including efficient air traffic control operation efficiency, efficient runway configuration, efficient terminal layout, first-class Comprehensive transportation, every link is indispensable.
The air traffic control system is an important pillar in ensuring the safety of civil aviation and is also a key hub for civil aviation operations. In addition to the airport flight area and terminal building, there is another important project - the new airport air traffic control project.
Chen Songlin, deputy chief engineer of the Air Traffic Control Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told China News Weekly that the Beijing New Airport air traffic control project spans Beijing and Hebei, including the Beijing Terminal Control Center project and the Beijing New Airport Main Field. There are two parts to the project. After the completion of the Beijing New Airport Terminal Control Center project, it will become the middle and low-altitude control center of the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
In addition to the improvement of air traffic control hardware, the new airport also comes with the reform and innovation of the air traffic control model. Guo Yanchi told China News Weekly that at the beginning of the planning of Beijing's new airport, the needs of "air-land integration" and "military-civilian integration" were fully considered, drawing on internationally accepted airspace management methods, and introducing the terminal area design concept. In busy areas of the airport, Establish a terminal control area, implement joint military and civilian control and command, unify operating standards, and unify airspace coordination and flight procedure design.
The efficiency within the terminal building is a comprehensive test of design capabilities. The new airport is so big, where should passengers go after entering? How to check in? How to check baggage? Will there be long lines at security check? Will the transfer be troublesome? Passenger organization in the terminal has become a difficult point in the design of the entire process.
Guo Yanchi introduced that in terms of functional design, the terminal innovatively adopts a floor design with vertical distribution of functional areas and switchable waiting areas, which not only ensures sufficient development space for operating resources in the functional areas, but also Enables flexible adjustments to international and domestic waiting areas.
The new airport terminal has four floors above ground and is mainly used for passengers entering and exiting, waiting for flights and transferring. There are two underground levels, namely the platform level and the station concourse level of various rail transit stations.
Wang Xiaoqun told China News Weekly that the new airport has set up a variety of check-in and baggage check-in methods.
Outbound check-in facilities are distributed on three floors: the fourth floor is traditional check-in, mainly serving passengers with baggage check-in needs. The central international check-in area*** can provide 180 counters. The domestic check-in area on the side*** can provide 120 counters.
The three-level check-in mainly serves business passengers, first class, business class and airline frequent flyers who do not have checked baggage and use electronic check-in. The high-end passenger areas at both ends each provide 12 manual check-ins. counter.
The check-in function arranged in the transfer hall on the underground floor mainly serves domestic outbound passengers from various rail transit and parking buildings. *** It can provide 44 manual counters and sufficient self-service check-in machines equipment. After rail passengers arrive at the transfer hall from the platform, they can immediately check in their luggage. They can also use the 24 channels provided on this floor to complete the security check process, and take the escalator directly to the domestic departure area on the second floor.
After checking in, passengers will be diverted to different security check areas. The security check for domestic departures is divided into two areas and is arranged on the third floor. It can provide 44 security check channels. The check-in and security check on the third floor are set up on the same floor, which is in line with the functional positioning of this floor as a quick departure.
The security check area is usually an area where travelers gather to a high degree. Wang Xiaoqun introduced that in order to meet the demand of 72 million annual passenger flows, the terminal provides 88 general passenger security check channels to reduce the waiting time of passengers during peak hours. The depth of the queuing area before security check is more than 20 meters, and cold radiation ceiling is used to improve the environmental comfort in densely populated areas. In the security inspection channel, study the application of automatic basket return systems and intelligent detection equipment to improve inspection efficiency.
As a large hub airport, the transfer function is also a top priority. In order to improve transfer efficiency, the new airport has a unified transfer center on the third floor. "The transfer point is at the core and is responsible for domestic and international transfers and international transfers." Wang Xiaoqun said that domestic and international transfer times are a very important factor for transfer airports. An important indicator is, "Our planned transfer time is about 60 minutes. Because the procedures for domestic and international transfers are the most complicated, setting up a transfer center at this location can centralize inspection facilities and facilitate diversion.
”
The transfer center has separate border control and security inspections, and the necessary inspection facilities are concentrated in one place. This design not only overcomes the trouble of requiring transfer between buildings in traditional airports, but also shortens the time required for traditional single terminals. The new airport is expected to transport 72 million passengers by 2025 and as many as 100 million passengers by 2040. In order to cope with such huge passenger pressure, the new airport adopted a double-decker departure design for the first time in the world.
“The large flow of people is the biggest challenge in the design. It is to ensure high efficiency and high service levels while being large in scale.” Wang Xiaoqun said frankly that the double-decker departure design is mainly to solve the pressure of a large number of vehicle parking needs. , if only one floor is connected to the track, the roadside is about 400 meters, and the length of the parking lane is obviously not enough. The double-decker departure provides two layers of laneside, which can better relieve the pressure.
Another key area of ??pressure for the flow of people is the mixed flow area in and out of the port. Beijing New Airport does not set up any physical partitions between the departure and arrival areas, which is conducive to the full sharing of service facilities and resources. Both departing and arriving passengers can fully enjoy all commercial service facilities in the terminal, avoiding It eliminates the duplication of service facilities, maximizes the utilization of resources, and also increases the terminal's commercial income.
“The advantages of mixed flow are convenient transfers and the ability to enjoy public facilities, etc., but the challenge lies in how to cope with the pressure of large passenger flow.” Wang Xiaoqun said that the key to mixed flow is to do a good job in both directions of entry and exit. For passenger flow organization, "two-way passenger flow must be fully considered in the design. Passenger flow must be measured and corresponding channel widths, two-way walking paths, etc. designed."
Guo Yanchi told that the new airport has repeated all operating processes After research and deliberation, computer simulations were conducted on domestic entry and exit processes, international entry and exit processes, transfer processes, employee processes, cargo transportation processes, and garbage disposal processes.
Optimizing the entire process requires taking into account both process efficiency and humanized service. There are many highlights in the current process. For example, the number of floor changes for each type of passenger process is no more than two, and all of them are transferred to the lower floors, which is more efficient and convenient. Passengers can easily find their sense of direction in the terminal. Passengers after security check can reach the boarding gate by judging the direction twice at most. The entire process from the driveway to the boarding gate has been designed to be barrier-free to provide convenience for passengers with disabilities.
A more humane and intelligent green airport
What will be the difference between the new Beijing airport built in the 21st century and the airport built in the last century?
From the Capital Airport T1 in the 1980s to the T3 terminal in 2008, and then to the new airport today, it spans half a century. "Technology closely related to airport planning and design has undergone great changes, which will inevitably lead to adjustments in planning, design and focus." Guo Yanchi explained that first of all, the most external thing is that the size and performance of aircraft have greatly evolved, which directly led to the airport Changes in runway spacing and length.
As an important public space, the concept of humanized design has also been amplified to more and more levels and details, almost everywhere.
“The design of the new airport places great emphasis on humanization, which is a clear requirement from the civil aviation management.” Wang Xiaoqun told China News Weekly that in addition to various convenient designs in terms of airport functions and processes, The concept of humanization is also reflected in all aspects.
For example, the large and transparent space inside the terminal helps passengers to identify directions and find their goals. The space layout takes care of different passengers who like liveliness and quiet, and carries out "active and quiet zoning". In the domestic waiting corridor, two rows of commercial shops form a busy commercial street in the central passage, and separate relatively quiet waiting areas on both sides. Aircraft seating area.
A new airport where tens of thousands of people gather must have good ventilation performance. In addition to necessary air quality monitoring, including PM2.5 monitoring, ventilation, filtration and other measures, the new airport has natural ventilation conditions. There are vents in the lower part of the curtain wall, roof skylights, roof side walls, and skylight side walls. The air will The flow caused by thermal pressure promotes air circulation and can introduce more natural wind into the terminal in good weather.
The new airport has considered adequate facilities and a complete passenger service system. The various service facilities at the airport are very powerful.
In addition to the regular baggage packing, luggage storage, lost and found, postal-express delivery, bank-exchange, medical-first aid, Internet access, charging, ATM machines, water dispensers, and automatic retail machines, there are also special child care and changing rooms. , prayer room, etc.
“The new airport has also conducted special research on the setting of restrooms.” Wang Xiaoqun told China News Weekly that the new airport terminal has specially increased the density of restrooms to ensure that any location in the waiting area is within a short distance of the restrooms. No more than 60 meters. The standard for the number of sanitary ware in women's restrooms has been improved. Each waiting corridor is equipped with a special waiting room for mothers and infants. Public restrooms have independent multi-purpose restrooms that can be used by family members or people with disabilities. Disability facilities are also strictly implemented in accordance with current national standards and supplemented with reference to foreign airport practices.
The identification system is also an important embodiment of humanized services. The terminal building of Beijing New Airport is large in scale, with complex functions and numerous streamlines. Wang Xiaoqun said that the design of the signage system adopted the BIM method for system sorting and special research on important process nodes. More than 40 specifications and more than 2,000 signs were used throughout the building to guide passenger flow.
The entertainment and commercial functions of the airport are also greatly enhanced. "In the design of the new airport, we learned from the concept of Singapore Changi Airport. Changi Airport is both humane and commercial, with complete services. Locals even regard Singapore Airport as a one-stop shopping mall for eating, drinking and entertainment, which is very important for Our concept has a great influence." Ma Long told China News Weekly that the mixed flow center of the new airport has a particularly large shopping area, which is also designed to create a comprehensive place for shopping and leisure.