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Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok, Thailand
1995-2006
Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects
PASSENGER TERMINAL COMPLEX: SUVARNABHUMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Photos : Rainer Viertlböck

The passenger terminal complex at Suvarnabhumi Airport resulted from an
International Competition and established the basis of collaboration between
Werner Sobek, Matthias Schuler and Helmut Jahn. The challenge was great
and unusual. The task of creating a new gateway to Thailand in a tropical
climate necessitated a different approach to architecture and engineering.
Through the integration of the disciplines the complex problem resulted
in a sophisticated, intelligent yet simple solution. After 11 years of
planning and construction the Terminal is set to open for passenger traffic
in late 2006.
The design took into consideration Murphy/Jahns experience with
airport terminal design, starting in the 1950s. Those buildings
included OHare International Airport in Chicago and particularly
the New United Airlines Terminal of the mid 1980s and the near completed
renovation of Terminals 3 for American Airlines and Terminals 2, the work
in the commercial zone of the New Munich Airport which included the Kempinski
Hotel, the Munich Airport Center and Infrastructure, Parking and landscaped
areas and the new Terminal 2 at the Airport in Cologne/Bonn.

It also responded to the challenge that airports today are a New Building
Type. They have become a strange combination of Transportation Center
and Mall. They constitute cities outside cities and give the
first and last impression of a city, region or country. They are places
to meet for people of all facets of life.
Architecturally important seem to us the openness and comprehension and
experience of the open spaces, the gesture of the roof and spaces as memorable
images and the way the blurring of the boundaries between public and private
space make an airport terminal a model of a Mini-City. Like
in a city the experience leads through squares, streets and rooms for
transportation, commerce and private uses.
In the design and execution of Suvarnabhumi Airport, innovative and integrated
architectural, structural and environmental design were used, new materials
and systems of advanced technology were developed and unusual construction
processes required to meet the design goals.
The results are advanced long span, lightweight steel structures, exposed
pre-cast concrete structures, clear or low e-coated glass, a three layer
translucent membrane, integrated cooling, using water as a low energy
carrier and the thermal mass of concrete and a displacement ventilation
system with minimal air-changes.
Those components and parts serve in their total composition and in use
more than in their conventional roles. They maximize daylight and comfort,
yet minimize the use of energy with significant life cycle cost savings.
The installed cooling power is reduced close to 50% compared to a conventional
system. The three layer translucent membrane was developed to mediate
between the exterior and interior conditions, dealing with heat and noise
transmission, while still allowing for natural daylight within the building.
The result is a building flooded with controlled daylight in a tropical
climate. Architect and engineers speak here the same language, a process
we refer to as Archi-Neering: the architect thinks about the technical
consequences of the forms he designs and the engineers consider the aesthetic
results of their concepts and decisions.
In a building with such advanced technical concept and construct it is
important to establish a connection to local cultural tradition and art.
This is done through the shaded gardens flanking the terminal, which represent
Thai landscape in cities and in the country, a jungle garden between the
terminal and concourse, traditional artistic patterns and colors on glazed
surfaces and floors and Thai artifacts placed at the airside centers and
concourses.

This combination makes Suvarnabhumi Airport Thailands own Gateway
to the World.
Helmut Jahn
Suvarnabhumi Airport images / text from Murphy/Jahn Architects 150508
Suvarnabhumi Airport
: Murphy/Jahn Architects
Thailand Buildings

Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok - Credits:
Murphy/Jahn Architect
ACT Consultants. Associate Architect / Engineer
TAMS Consultants / Earth Tech Project Management
Werner Sobek Ingenieure Structural Concept /
Concourse Superstructure/ Facades
Transsolar Energietechnik Climate and Environmental Concept
Martin/Martin Main Terminal Superstructure
John A. Martin & Associates Structural Concrete
Flack + Kurtz Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing
Yann Kersalé Lighting Art
Baggage Consultant BNP Associates, Inc.
ITO Joint Venture General Contractor
Italian-Thai Development
Takenaka Corporation
Obayashi Corporation
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Comments / photos for the Suvarnabhumi Airport Architecture page welcome:
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Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok
: page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
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