"FUNCTIONAL DESIGN OF THE GRAN CANARIA AIRPORT TERMINAL" for Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA)

2003

PROGRAM

The proposal for expanding the terminal building is done with clear continuity with the current design due to being considered the most operative. In sections, the arrival and departure of passengers is done on two levels.

By floor, in accordance with the needs that were studied, a central body has been established where arrivals and departures are organised, and the complementary services of the terminal building.

The side docks have the basic objective of increasing the number of airplanes in contact to be able to increase passenger comfort.

INTERIOR SPACE

The journey of the passenger from the outside to the plane will take place through a succession of spaces, differentiated by their sizes and the type of natural light they receive. This brightens the users’ journeys and improves orientation in a building with such large dimensions.

The check-in lounge is a large space for the reception of passengers. Designed as a natural extension of the outside, as it is delimited by glass panels on the ceiling and façade. From here, the user sees the check-in counters, illuminated by the light that penetrates from the patio of the office blocks. After passing through these counters, the commercial corridor can be seen. This corridor is a continuous 1300-metre long space that lets passengers walk the totality of the airside in departures. The shops and departure lounges are organised along this corridor. There is a large skylight at the top that allows for adequate natural light and contrasts with the design of the facade.

MODULARITY

Creating a modular building rationalises its construction, simplifies its maintenance and favour the orientation of its users.
In order to define how to carry out the expansion, first a standard module was defined, using an optimal section of the current building as a basis.


This module is inserted with another smaller one where the communications and services are located.


On the docks, the dimensional module is repeated, as well as the smaller cores for communications and services.


The entire proposal is modular, using a 10x10 m module, which is the base grid of the pillars.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE WOOD

As an extension of the commitment to sustainable development existing on the islands, this proposal suggests a synthesis between the most cutting-edge technology and local construction traditions.

Wood has been a constant in the architecture of the Canary Islands. Its usage in buildings has contributed, on one hand, to imbuing them with both quality and elegance, and on the other hand, to its natural integration with the landscape.

As an element of solar control, it is used on the balconies, eaves and lattices. Following local tradition, several elements for sun protection through the use of wood have been designed:

The lathes over the check-in lounges in order to guarantee proper zenithal illumination of the check-in lounge without radiation entering.

The shelters over the zones for the placement of acclimatisation units between lobbies.

The linear shadow element over the skylight in the commercial corridor.

The panels in the façade in order to decrease the area where solar radiation enters.

ARCHITECTURE AND CLIMATE

The terminal building that is proposed, integrates ecological solutions into the design related to the climatic determinants of the location.

The climate on the island is characterised by having very small temperature variations, remaining in the comfort zone throughout the year. Rains are scarce and there is high annual relative humidity. Sun radiation is high.

In light of these determinants, the best solution from a bioclimatic point of view is one that protects the building from the rays of the sun, especially the roof as it is exposed throughout the day, and the facades facing east and west, which receive the most direct sunlight. Besides the solar protection, it is advisable to strengthen ventilation in order to dissipate the heat and decrease the humidity, which can produce stifling heat.

In the attached plans, the passive solar control systems are explained, both for the processing building and for the docks.

Elements that avoid the entry of direct sunlight have been proposed for the roofs, and the lower chamber has been ventilated in order to guarantee that the radiation emitted by these elements when temperatures rise is dissipated.

With respect to the facades, the north to south orientation in the longitudinal direction must be addressed, as it presents both an advantage and a disadvantage.

An advantage is that it is the direction of the dominant winds in the area proceeding from the Atlantic Ocean. This circumstance can be used for the ventilation – as has been mentioned – of the roof chambers and the facades, and to ventilate the building through suction on the patios throughout the length of the building.

The disadvantage is that the largest facades of the building have an eastern orientation (airside) and west (landside). This is why the previously detailed solar protection has been proposed.

Why turn to these protection and ventilation systems?

So that the inside conditions of temperature, humidity and lighting are the optimal ones to guarantee the comfort of users of the building, and that this is carried out with the least amount of energy consumption possible.

ENCLOSURE OF THE AIRSIDE

Currently, the airside façade of the departures and arrivals levels has been solved with a curtain wall with grey glass for sun control. These types of glass are placed in order to allow vision and minimise the entry of radiation into the inside.


The disadvantage this entails is that the amount of light reaching the inside is considerably reduced.


To give continuity to the airside, the expansion will continue to use this glass.


To provide greater levels of light, a skylight will be placed above the shops using glass without sun protection elements.

WESTERN ENCLOSURE OF THE NORTH DOCK

The enclosure used on the western façade of the north dock consists of wooden panels placed in order to avoid the incidence of direct western sunlight, but that allows the entry of light in the spaces between them and views of the outside.

ENCLOSURE OF CHECK-IN LOUNGE AND OFFICE BLOCKS.
"INTELLIGENT" FAÇADE SYSTEM

The facades of the complementary services block and the façade of the check-in lounge face east and west, respectively. Rays of sun hit the building horizontally in these directions. For this reason, a solar protection element is proposed in order to avoid overheating when the sun hits these facades and allows views of the landscape and the entry of natural light when the protection is removed.

The slats that make up the exterior glass façade are placed vertically when the rays of sun are horizontal at dawn. From this initial position, they continue to be opened as the sun rises higher during the day. After midday has passed and the sun stops falling on the eastern façade, the slats are moved into a horizontal position to allow views and the entrance of natural light.

ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPING

The size of the building as well as the usage destined for the space impose a new landscape. This landscape should be in harmony with the environment and surroundings.

To achieve this objective, a design is proposed that is an integration between what has been planned and what is currently there, through the incorporation of local construction traditions, being sensitive to the climatic determinants of the location and collaborating with sustainable development.

As a compositional resource for minimising the visual impact of the building, the facades have been fragmented according to the 10 m module.

The materials have been selected with colours and tones linked to nature.

Lastly, the roofs have been designed with special care and fondness due to being the first thing seen from the plane when approaching the airport.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

The bioclimatic measures proposed will contribute to energy savings as regards electric consumption through ventilation, air-conditioning, heating and lighting.


Along with this savings, photovoltaic solar panels shall also be used for producing electric energy, thus contributing to the protection of the environment.


In the design of each of the lath houses over the check-in lobbies, a photovoltaic field has been integrated.


This system provides the advantages of renewable energy, with the most important issue being non-contamination. Other advantages are the minimal maintenance costs and the inalterability of the installation over time.

WATER MANAGEMENT

Following the current airport policy of recycling water for irrigation, a rooftop cistern is proposed as a system to take advantage of rain water for irrigating the landscaped areas.


These zones, besides their environmental function, also prevent the roof from overheating.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

To be able to correctly carry out supplying tasks, maintenance and waste evacuation, a service corridor has been planned at the departure level. This corridor will run throughout the terminal building and shall be accessed through service communication nuclei planned in the 30 m modules.

Supplies. Allows the supplying of merchandise to the commercial businesses rapidly and easily to avoid bothering passengers.

Maintenance. This is the place proposed for locating all the routing of conducts and the networks of the building installations. In this way, they can be permanently accessed for maintenance purposes without interfering with the passenger zone.

Waste evacuation. This is the place where the waste generated by the terminal building operation is evacuated. This facilitates removal to an equipped zone in the building’s basement. A selective collection point has been planned here, like it is currently done outside the terminal area.

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