Airport Terminal in Beijing
Nearly 3 km long, the new Terminal 3 at the Beijing Airport is one of the world’s largest buildings. It will accommodate fifty million passengers per year by 2020. The symmetrical floor plan fans out at either end to form two large halls. The form is heightened by the singular gesture of the double-curved roof. The roof structure is a modular space truss supported by cantilevered steel columns up to 28 m in height. The ceiling’s underside is made of aluminium louvers. The colour palette moves through 16 tones from red to yellow. Loads originating in the steel roof are directed horizontally and vertically via reinforced-concrete decks, downstand beams and round columns into a 12-metre grid.
