MAD Architects in collaboration with China Airport Planning & Design Institute and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design has revealed design for the Changchun “Longjia” International Airport Terminal 3 in China.

The plans have been reevaled following an international competition in China. The new terminal building, which will be the airport's first large-scale air transportation junction, will cover a total of nearly 270,000 square meters on a footprint of 177.6-hectare area.

Resembling "a floating feather", the precise shape of the airport features a fluid skin that frames its internal logic and roof design in a clear arrangement. 

Aiming to accomodate 22 million passengers per year after completion, the terminal will have 54 aircraft gates and will be built as "the biggest air transportation junction of Changchun city and entire Jilin Province".

The Jilin Province is one of the earliest manufacturing industrial metropolises with a population of 23 million.

"The city is surrounded by rich natural resources like dense forests that are well-known as the most significant in the northeastern of China, as well as the international regional hub in Northeast Asia," said MAD.

"The future large-scale transportation junction is first of all an important public space in the city," said Ma Yansong, founder of MAD Architects. 

"Art, synthesis, diversity, and humanity are all important," Yansong added.

Human-scale space

MAD Architects conceives the terminal building as a human-scaled space, offering a calming presence to the Airport, both from a distance and from within. 

"As visitors approach from the high-speed rail "Longjia" Station or the parking structure, they will be greeted by the terminal’s unique fan-shaped profile that resembles a floating feather — a nod to the airplanes that will be ascending and descending from its terminals throughout the day," MAD explained.

The new teminal building has a three-fingered corridor structure surrounded by arcs, leading passengers to 54 aircraft gates. 

Presenting connections to the T1 and T2 terminal areas through its overall harmonious layout, these terminal areas will also increase the number of passenger seats near the aircrafts. 

Upon entrance, passengers will be welcomes with a large, uninterrupted ground floor, providing direct access to the subway, automobile road and other methods of transportation connecting the terminal to the larger site.

"Passengers arriving without checked baggage will benefit from smart airport facilities such as self-service check-in machines and smart security checks," said MAD in its project description.  

According to the studio, the land will be saved and reduce the amount of earthwork thanks to the overall spatial layout.

On the other hand, height differences, created by the roofline, will be used to reflect the cross-connections of different transportation modes from above.

The subway station hall is seamlessly integrated into the central space of the terminal building to reduce the number of transfers between the subway and the airport by reducing the distance between the terminal entrance and the east expansion station hall of “Longjia” Station to less than 200 meters. 

Given that nearly one-third of passengers have entered and exited the airport via high-speed rail since 2018, the intercity railway will become an increasingly important means of inbound and outbound transportation for Changchun Airport.

MAD is inspired by the charm of Changchun as a "Garden City'' in order to translate this idea to create a "garden airport." 

While the exterior space area is characterized by forests, lakes, meadows, and undulating terrain, the indoor garden system features trees, ground covers, and water features to create a "cold zone garden" that reflects the local climate.

Thanks to the feather-shaped roof, natural light is brought into the departure hall to create a bright and warm interior space that provides much-needed sunlight to the garden spaces within. 

The structural system is reflected on the rhythm of the building's skin to express the logic of force transmission, which converges toward the center together with the skylight, guiding the direction of passengers naturally. 

The roof has a unique wooden ceiling, which also combines with the structure, skylight and ceiling to create a dynamic interior space.

The terminal’s approach to green design at an intimate scale is a response to the timeless human need for connection to human and plant-life alike; all within a shape as light and airy as a feather floating in the breeze.

MAD is currently working on the Harbin Taiping International Airport Terminal 3 building in Harbin, China. 

The studio completed Quzhou Stadium at the Quzhou Sports Park which is being built in the historic city of Quzhou, eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, China. In addition, MAD's Aranya Cloud Center is under construction in Qinhuangdao, China. 

Project facts

Project: Changchun Airport Terminal 3
Location: Changchun, Jilin Province, China
 
Terminal Site Area: 177.6 hectares (1,776,000 square meters)
Terminal Building Area: 270,000 square meters
Client: Jilin Provincial Civil Airport Group Company
Consortium:  China Airport Planning & Design Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Co., Ltd., MAD Architects
 
MAD Architects Team: MA Yansong, DANG Qun, Yosuke HAYANOLIU, Huiying, Kin LI, SUN Shouquan, SUN Mingze, SONG Minzhe, WANG Fei, LU Zihao, XIAO Yuhan, CHEN Wei, CAO Xi, Yoshio FUKUMORI
China Airport Planning & Design Institute Team: MU Tong, YAO Huilai, FENG Xiangling, SUN Yongxue, YAO Yuan, XU Junjie, ZHANG Bao, ZHANG Yan, SHEN Xin, QI Junjie, HAO Wenjia, LIU Zihao, XU Ke, LI Zhennan, FENG Mengyao, LI Xiong, ZHENG Guangshun, SHEN Yi, LU Xin, LI Henghui
Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Team: WANG Xiaoqun, SHU Weinong, WANG Yizhi, LI Shaokun, SU Yao, WU Di, WANG Yisu, WANG Bin, REN Jie, ZHANG Zhongqi, ZHANG Linyi, CHEN Lin, GU Xianliang, MU Yang, FAN Shixing, WANG Hanmo, ZHANG Shizhong, YU Xinqiao, ZHANG Shirui, PAN Ming

All images courtesy of MAD.

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