Ben van Berkel / UNStudio's design for the new Transfer Terminal and Air Traffic Control Tower for Kutaisi Airport was officially presented yesterday by the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili
Ben van Berkel / UNStudio's design for the new Transfer Terminal and Air Traffic Control Tower for Kutaisi Airport was officially presented yesterday by the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili
UNStudio has designed the new Kutaisi Airport which will serve domestic and
international flights for use by international diplomats, national politicians
and for tourism.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who personally demolished one of the
walls of the old airport yesterday announced, "We will build an
international airport here, which will take aircraft from Munich, Rome, Baku
and other cities as of next year."
Georgia, a young state in the Caucasus which has undergone considerable
development in recent years, is moving its Parliament from the capital Tbilisi
to the city of Kutaisi. A new parliament building is currently under
construction in Kutaisi and in 2012 the first parliamentary meeting will take
place.
In recent years growing numbers of tourists have been discovering Georgia, a
country with an ancient and engaging history. As a result there is increasing
demand from airlines to fly to Georgia. By virtue of its geographical
advantages and the nearby location of two of Georgia’s most important Unesco
monuments, Kutaisi was selected as the destination for a new airport. The new
Kutaisi airport will in addition provide an economic impulse to Georgia’s
second city and its new seat of Parliament.
Ben van Berkel: "The design for the new terminal in Kutaisi focuses first
and foremost on the experience of the traveller by creating an inviting, safe,
transparent and user-friendly airport. The desire to provide for and
communicate equally with both international visitors and the local community is
paramount. "
UNStudio’s design for the new Kutaisi Airport incorporates both Georgia’s
historic landscape and its architecture. In Georgia public buildings and
private houses employ their entrance lobbies as showcases for their individual
identities. In the design for the new airport UNStudio embraces this
architectural concept in order to manifest Georgia’s young and dynamic
democracy, along with its rapid development as a main crossing point in the
region. Georgia is located on a crossroads of rich cultures, with a history of
travellers passing through the Caucasus or arriving from the Black Sea.
Ben van Berkel: "It was particularly exciting for me to be able to design
an airport which is not only linked to the new seat of parliament in Kutaisi,
but which also creates an entrance condition which functions as a port for the
international community. The airport presents a symbolic infrastructural
gateway to Georgia and, from there, to the rest of the world."
The 4,000 m2 terminal building will house a central arrivals hall, a
check-in area with lounge, cafe and car rental facilities, three gates for
departure with retail, cafes, a CIP lounge area and exterior garden, an arrival
area with customs and offices for the border police and an administration area
with staff rooms and press conference facilities.
The architecture of the terminal refers to a pavilion; a gateway, in which a
clear structural layout creates an all encompassing and protective volume. The
volume is structured around a central exterior space which is used for
departing passengers. The transparent space around this central point is
designed to ensure that flows of passengers are smooth and that departure and
arrival flows do not coincide. These axes incorporate views from the plaza to
the apron and to the Caucasus on the horizon. The design organises the
logistical processes, provides optimal security and ensures that the traveler
has sufficient space to circulate comfortably. Serving as a lobby to Georgia,
the terminal could in addition operate as an art gallery, displaying works by
Georgian artists and thereby presenting a further identifier of contemporary
Georgian culture.
The 55 m high, 300 m2 Air Traffic Control Tower is designed to compliment the design of the terminal. The traffic control cabin on the top level forms the focal point of the tower, with a spacious and comfortable interior ensuring a workspace of optimal concentration. 1,500 m2 of supporting office spaces are housed in a nearby building. The exterior of the tower is clad with a transparent skin with the potential to change color whenever there is a fluctuation in traffic. The Air Traffic Control Tower will function as a light beacon to the sky for the international airport, but also from the road to and from Georgia’s new parliamentary city Kutaisi.
Ben van Berkel: "The design for the new airport embraces the traveller by
embodying the circumstance of the site. Moments of both leaving and returning
are celebrated by the large span, open spaces and high ceiling of the terminal
structure - reflecting the ways in which such gestures were employed in the
great railway stations of the past."
The design for the new airport aims to incorporate local and international
sustainable elements. An onsite underground source of natural water provides
the basis for the reduction in energy consumption through concrete core
activation. The floors of both the Terminal and the ATCT will utilise this
water for maintaining a regulated temperature in the two volumes. In the
Terminal building cantilevered roofs provide sun shading on south and
southwest zones. A hybrid low pressure ventilation system will be integrated
into the terminal's main structure and there will be a grey water collection
system in the floor underneath the terminal building. To further lower energy consumption
there is the possibility to implement large areas of PV-cells on the roof
surface. Kustaisi airport will be Georgia’s first airport to incorporate a
strict segregation of waste. The aim is to establish a recycling system which
could be further implemented into new and existing projects in Georgia.
Construction on the new Kutaisi Airport will begin in December 2011. The airport is
scheduled to be operational in September 2012.