Spread across 1,250 acres in Israel’s Negev Desert, the new Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport is the country’s first greenfield civil airport project.
The airport features a 484,000-sf Passenger Terminal Building and an 11,811 foot-long runway and taxiway, alongside 40 aprons. Two support structures to the north and south of the terminal add a combined 389,000 sf of space and a 147-foot-tall Air Control Tower.
Amir Mann-Ami Shinar Architects and Planers, in partnership with Moshe Zur Architects, was responsible for budget, program, and planning schedule, and designed everything from the various buildings to each individual check-in counter. "In designing the airport we learned from the desert scenery. It required a vision of the most suitable design solution that responds to the existing landscape and climate,” said Amir Mann, Project Design Manager, in a release. “Our objective was how not to compete with the overwhelming emptiness of the site, while creating a place that welcomes passengers through the departure and arrival processes, reflecting through that experience the uniqueness of the desert environment, as a functioning international southern gate to Israel."
Inspiration for the passenger terminal came from the mushroom-like rock formations found in Israel’s National Timna Park. The opaque terminal uses glass curtain walls to introduce natural light and views inside the terminal in places like entrances and exits, arrivals and departures, and check-in and boarding gate halls.
See Also: Home team wins O’Hare terminal design competition
The building envelope comprises a steel and concrete skeleton structure clad in aluminum triangular panels. The white panels reflect the light rays and UV weaves to help reduce the skin’s temperature. The design forgoes these panels on the interior and instead opts for bamboo wood on the ceilings.
The building’s baggage handling, security processes, and other technical operations are hidden on the lower level so the roof can be free of technical equipment and act as a fifth façade when viewed from an airplane window.
The airport will serve as the new southern gate to Israel and is expected to host 2.25 million passengers per year. The airport has been designed to adapt as that number grows to 4.25 million passengers per year.
Related Stories
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 21, 2013
Why research is the ticket to successful airport wayfinding
Wayfinding is more than just signs; it requires a holistic approach based on communicating information that helps people make the right decision at the right time.
| Aug 19, 2013
Discovery of hidden asbestos complicates DFW terminal renovations
The finding of more asbestos in Terminal B than expected, and the pending merger of US Airways and the airport’s largest tenant, American Airlines, is causing construction delays on a $2.3 billion Dallas/Fort Worth Airport terminal renovation.
| Aug 19, 2013
Integration of solar panels in building skin seen as key net-zero element
Recent high-profile projects, including stadiums in Brazil for the upcoming World Cup and Summer Olympics and a bank headquarters in the U.K., reflect an effort by designers to adopt building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 22, 2013
Transportation Facility Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from airport terminals and other transportation-related facilities, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 19, 2013
Renovation, adaptive reuse stay strong, providing fertile ground for growth [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Increasingly, owners recognize that existing buildings represent a considerable resource in embodied energy, which can often be leveraged for lower front-end costs and a faster turnaround than new construction.
| Jul 18, 2013
Top Local Government Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, Clark Group, PCL top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest local government sector contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 18, 2013
Top Local Government Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
STV, URS, AECOM top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest local government sector engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
