Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport

Chongqing, China

As a leading provincial city, Chongqing aspires to a modern international airport for the 21st Century to reinforce its strategic status and potential.  As the first phase of the expansion programme for the airport, the design of this 65,000m2 terminal complex was completed in December 2005 and is capable of handling 8 million passengers a year.  The signature quality of the terminal is reinforced by the distinctive roof profile, which echoes that of the mountains surrounding the city. The building section has been refined to allow maximum daylight penetration and outward views, creating a concourse that is airy, spacious and calm.

The form of the terminal roof has been based on structural principles derived from symbolic references to the traditional Chinese dragon. Four sets of spine trusses spanning the building section from landside to airside support secondary ribs stiffened by a web of tubes and cables, and the whole roof structure is held aloft at its edges by pyramids of tubular props. Each 45m x 90m structural bay is covered by a lightweight roofing membrane punctuated by glazed rooflights to admit daylight to the departures and arrivals concourses below, yielding a structure which appears as assertive and dynamic as a dragon.

In 2005 Llewelyn Davies Yeang and ARUP received the British International Expertise Award from the BCCB for Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.