KL AIR, consisting of KAAN Architecten, Estudio Lamela, ABT and Ineco, with the support of Arnout Meijer Studio, DGMR and Planeground, has won the commission to design the new terminal at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The building will be located at Jan Dellaert Plein, south of Schiphol Plaza, the main airport meeting area and arrival point for passengers via Schiphol train station and the A4 highway. The new terminal is to be completed by 2023.

The spatial organization of the new 100,500 m2 terminal for approximately 14 million passengers per year, its design and the treatment of its façades, are based on the ability to link up with Schiphol Plaza, the train station and potential future expansions. This is achieved through architectural clarity, spatial openness, and details such as overhangs and black eaves.

Central to the design is the urban integration of the new terminal that will ensure an excellent connection with the rest of Schiphol. An overlapping area and a diversity of user flows distinguish the reception hall for departing passengers, and make a distinctive space for the baggage reclaim hall underneath the check-in floor. Furthermore, short and direct routes on the landside are urban integration elements that contribute to keeping Schiphol a “compact city”.

“The most inspiring architectural and planning DNA at Schiphol is that of De Weger and Duintjer’s 1967 Departures Hall, with interior design by Kho Liang Ie Associates, which is characterized by abundant daylight, simplicity of space and an impressive spatiality”, says the design team.

The large-scale terminal offers diverse spatial experiences to travellers within a light-infused environment, and the understated design allows the use of spaces to be self-evident, while not diminishing the overall functionality.

At the heart of the building, a raised Plateau creates a higher ceiling for the baggage hall and gives the check-in and security control area more privacy. Here passengers have a sweeping view over an entrance hall that is superbly crowned by a latticework of light, allowing travellers to take in the big Dutch sky. The columns in the façade and a few facility areas within the building will bear the load of the unique roof (spanning approximately 180 x 150 meters). Passengers will be able to oversee the space in a single glance and move freely within the space. Soaring panes of glass define the façades and provide a view into the vibrant activity of the airport as well as a view onto the wide open sky over the flat polder landscape. Materials such as wood flooring on the Plateau and lush greenery in the large light wells above the security control area communicate elements of sustainability inherent in the design.

Structural modularity and a repetitive rhythm in the façades and roof will serve the overall serenity and unity of the new terminal, while also providing excellent building blocks for any future extension. An integrity and timeless quality define this new link in the chain of Schiphol’s evolutionary development, and yet the design achieved is also distinctive and expressive.

For more information, please contact:

KAAN Architecten (mint LIST) press@kaanarchitecten.com +31 (0)10 206 00 00 (Sebastian van Damme) +39 347 137 18 85 (Maria Azzurra Rossi)