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  COME VEDERE L'ARCHITETTURA CONTEMPORANEA HOW TO SEE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
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BUILDING
 
 
Frankfurt airport - Gate A+
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DESIGNER
 
 
gmp - von Gerkan, Marg und Partner
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DESCRIPTION
 
gmp von Gerkan Marg und Partner Frankfurt airport Gate A+The new A+ gate extends the areas used by Lufthansa at Terminal 1 and was required independently of the extension of the airport extension program, in order to be able to adequately serve the Airbus A380 and Boeing B747-8 wide-body aircraft. gmp’s commission included the new construction of the link between gates A and A+, also called the “root”, the baggage claim area A, the required conversions of existing structures in Terminal 1 as well as the new construction of gate A+.

The design of this large project focused on three key areas: the conceptual integration of the new building into the existing ensemble while also creating an individual identity, complying with the new EU safety regulations for passenger handling, and creating a retail and lounge concept.
Architectural concept of the “root”
gmp von Gerkan Marg und Partner Frankfurt airport Gate A+The “root”, the central marketplace with an extensive range of shops, restaurants and lounges, is located at the building interface between Terminal A and gate A+. Its glazed, cone-shaped opening allows daylight to reach the interior, opens the view towards the sky and creates vistas across the different levels of the marketplace. At the same time, passengers are able to see the apron and aeroplanes through a wide opening on the flight side. Individual, specialist retail and gastronomy concepts were tied into an over-arching design principle. Transparency and daylight combined with simple and natural materials generate a pleasant atmosphere. In this way the central marketplace forms a unique architectural space offering a pleasant environment for people to spend time in.
Architectural concept for gate A+
gmp von Gerkan Marg und Partner Frankfurt airport Gate A+Gate A+ extends towards the west following on from the “root”, with a width of about 26 meters and a length of over 600 meters. Owing to new EU safety regulations which state that passengers arriving from non-Schengen states must be separated from departing passengers who have already been security screened, the gate had to be designed with four upper storeys. This means that gate A+ is higher than the existing buildings but nevertheless resonates with the existing design. This was achieved with the help of the design manual, which applies to the entire airport, and which was used by gmp architects to give gate A+ its identity in spite of the existing material specification.

gmp von Gerkan Marg und Partner Frankfurt airport Gate A+Materials such as natural stone, metal and wood were used in similar fashion to Terminal 1, which creates a flowing transition between the existing and new buildings. The further you progress, the more the materials are used in innovative ways; new variations and combinations result in the gate ultimately acquiring its own independent style. The construction grid was optimised to suit commercial considerations, and the large span meant that the designers were able to omit one row of columns which otherwise would have obstructed the space. Ancillary functions such as escape stairs, services ducts and sanitary facilities were located along the northern edge. This has created a completely open space flooded with daylight which provides clarity and easy orientation: passengers have a view of almost the entire length of the gate building, stretching over several hundred metres. This helps passengers with orientation and also makes it easier to gauge the distance to the boarding gate. Here too, passengers have an open view of the apron and aeroplanes.

The lighting design supports the differentiation of spaces with architectural means. It is based on the juxtaposition of soft ceiling lighting as background illumination, and distinct functional areas with their own light quality. Light islands and zones for the counter and boarding gate areas, and the retail and gastronomy zones, result in a lively canvas within the large space context and give further support for the orientation of passengers. In the evening, the artificial light flows to the outside through all openings and thus helps to define the architectural shape at night. The ensemble of the façade and roof structure, with its large opening in the “root” area, influences the appearance of the A+ extension at night, from the ground as well as the air. In this way the façade design reflects the large scale, but the detail provides a counter measure to this scale.

In spite of the differences between the gate building and the “root” area, the new development of the A+ area has been designed as an architectural unit and thus presents a cohesive appearance for the entire project, inside and out.
Credits
Photos © Marcus Bredt
Drawings © gmp - von Gerkan, Marg und Partner
Text edit by gmp - von Gerkan, Marg und Partner
Courtesy by gmp - von Gerkan, Marg und Partner

gmp von Gerkan Marg und Partner Frankfurt airport Gate A+



If you haven't already clicked on the photo strip at the top of the page, for the gallery of photos [11 images] and drawings [5 images], enter here
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LOCATION
 
Continent
Europe
Nation
Germany [Deutschland]
Land
Hesse [Hessen]
District
Darmstadt
Town
Frankfurt am Main
Address
Hugo-Eckener-Ring (Autobahn E42)
 
 
Website
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TYPOLOGY
 
Main
ARCHITECTURE
Transport buildings and structures
Airports, terminals, etc.
Additional
ARCHITECTURE
Operations on existing buildings
Extension, superelevation
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CHRONOLOGY
 
Project
2006 - 2007     project winner of competition
Realisation
2007 - 2012
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CLIENT
 
 
Fraport AG
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DIMENSIONAL
DATA
 
Surface
footprint sq.m. 45,000
gross floor sq.m. 188,000
existing building converted sq.m. 12,000

glass façades sq.m. 15,000

Bridge buildings sq.m. 1,300

retail and gastronomy units sq.m. 12,000
Volume
gross m³ 960,000

Bridge buildings m³ 6,800
Lenght
overall project m. 885
Gate A+ building m. 650
Height
Gate A+ building m. 22
Number
12 bus gate positions
48 security control points

62 retail and gastronomy units
5 Lufthansa lounges (First class, Senator, Business)

approx. 2,300 doors (800 safety doors)
32 lifts
31 moving walkways
46 escalators
6 lifting platforms
280 parking spaces
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STRUCTURES
 
 
Weber and Poll Consulting Engineers
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STAFF
 
Design
Meinhard von Gerkan and Jürgen Hillmer
Project leader
Susanne Winter, Reiner Schröder
Design team
Competition:
Klaus Lenz, Sebastian Flatau, Ingo Beckmann, Kai Beckmann, Markus Carlsen, Christian Dahle, Henning Fritsch, Ben Joscha Grope, Markus Helmin, Matthias Holtschmidt, Silke Jessen, Eduard Kaiser, Raimund Kinski, Prisca Marschner, Rouven Oberdieck
Collaborators
Bernd Adolf, Winfried Albert, Peter Autzen, Martin Backhaus, Heike Bavosi, Sebastian Becker, Kai Beckmann, Karl-Heinz Behrendt, Mike Berrier, Rainer Binnig, Sarah Bolius, Johann von Bothmer, Dirk Buchhalla, Friedhelm Chlosta, Klaus Debus, Karlo Demrowski, Nils Dethlefs, Daisy Dewanto, Peter Diemer, Renata Dipper, Christian Dirumdam, Andreas Ebner, Jürgen Feyrer, Arnd Fickers, Falko Fock, Jelena Formentunovic, Brita Gast, Jessica Gerlach, Regine Glaser, Hendrik Goossens, Daniel Günther, Jörg Graul, Holger Großmann, Alexander Hardieck, Julian Heick, Markus Helmin, Hendrik Hoffmeister, Michael Horn, Oliver Hintz, Torsten Hinz, Eike Holst, Matthias Holtschmidt, Raimund Kinski, Moritz Koppe, Bernd Kottsieper, Carsten Kromschröder, Detlef Krug, Carmen Kunz, Markus Lehnhardt, Alexander Lellig, Klaus Liebscher, Verena Lücking, Susanne Maisel, Prisca Marschner, Katja Mezger, Alexis Michalec, Alexander Mittenberger, Alan Moquet, Wiebke Morlang, Sigrid Müller, Sebastian Muschko, Christian Neunzig, Rouven Oberdieck, Cordula Oel, Jun-Florian Peine, Rüdiger Picht, Simon Ranzenberger, Dominik Reh, Stefan Repnow, Uli Rösler, Peter Roch, Hedieh Sabet, Monica Sallowsky, Mark Schiebler, Sabine Seelbach, Barbara Sellwig, Robert Schlett, Angela Schmidtutz, Sarah Schöbel, Christoph Schrade, Sabine Spars, Amra Sternberg, Arne Thomsen, Dirk Tietgen, Hito Ueda, Lorenza Tiziana Vacirca, Niels Vagt, Stefan Wagner, Mohamed Wahby, Ralf Walter, Lena Wegener, Andre Wegmann, Felix Wegmann, Andreas Weihnacht, Birgit Weinland, Simon Wenig, Jens Wiedenhöft, Petra Wiemer, Alexander Will, Hendrik Winter, Gabi Kottsieper, Hartwig Zehm, Iris Grüning, Sarah Schöbel, Gisela Steinmann, Christina Knesevic, Iris Sengebusch, Hannes Schulz, Regine Saunders, Andrea Seegers, Frank Görge, Evgeny Stolyarov, Alice Pape, Michael Langwald, Jakub Witecki, Nina Hollberg, Yi Jiang, Magnus Kessler, Julia Bauer, Nicolas Balacco, Daniela Gaede
Systems
Arup GmbH
Transport planning
VSU Verkehr Städtebau Umweltschutz GmbH
Fire safety
hhpberlin
 
 
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