Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, opened in 2004, is one of China's three major international hub airports and one of the busiest airports in Asia and the world. Baiyun Airport Terminal 1 plans to invest 2 billion yuan in a "big transformation" to complete the renovation and renovation of the entire building within 6-8 years, and is currently undergoing creative solicitation bidding. A few days ago, Chen Xiong, the national engineering survey and design master who was in charge of the architectural design of the three terminal buildings of Baiyun Airport and the vice president of Guangdong Provincial Architectural Design and Research Institute, exclusively confirmed the news to Guangzhou Daily.

In the future, the layout of the T1 international zone is planned to be re-adjusted to be integrated with the T2 international zone; the east side of the terminal is connected to the intercity station, and the west side is connected to the station of Line 22; the main theme of the internal design of the terminal is "light luxury". An iconic landscape will be set up to become an essential online celebrity check-in point for passengers to come to the airport, upgrade commercial blocks, attract high-end brands to settle in, and meet the SKYTRAX five-star standard. The terminal will not stop operating during the whole process.

Airport layout:

T1 and T2 are "combined", 5 corridors are connected to form an international zone

According to the requirements of the creative solicitation documents, applicants should carry out overall renovation ideas under the existing building conditions of T1. The short-term planning target year is 2030, with an annual passenger throughput of 120 million passengers at Baiyun Airport. Among them, T1 will carry out renovation ideas in 2025, and the annual passenger throughput will be calculated at 42 million.

T1 has a building area of 510,000 square meters and a design capacity of 35 million passengers. It is a corridor-style terminal building consisting of a main building, a connecting building, and six corridors (three in each of the east and west). The East 4th and West 4th corridors connecting T1 and T2 (Terminal 2) will be implemented in the third phase of the expansion of Baiyun Airport. After the implementation, T2 will have the capacity to handle more than 60 million passengers.

At present, East One and East Two of T1, East Five and East Six of T2 are all international corridors, and the T2 East Fourth corridor to be constructed is also an international corridor. Positioned as the domestic T1 East Third Corridor stuck in the middle, it will become an obstacle to the "integration" of the T1 and T2 international zones in the future.

For this reason, the T1 renovation plan will "swap" the East Three and East One corridors: the former is changed to the international zone, and the latter to the domestic zone, so that the T1 and T2 international zones can be opened up. It is an international corridor to meet the growing demand for international flights and more flexible operation scheduling.

External traffic:

On the basis of Line 3, new rail stations will be established on both east and west sides

One of the most criticized pain points of T1 is the scattered arrival design. Except for the two corridors closest to the main building, passengers arriving in the other four corridors need to walk long distances to reach the subway station in the middle of the main building.

The new rail transit stations in the future will improve this situation. The solicitation documents show that the Sui-Shen and Guang-Fo Huan Intercity under construction will set up stations at the southern end of the T1 East Link Building, and the exits will be located outside Gate A01 on the first floor of the East Link Building and outside Gate 22 on the first floor of the main building. In addition, Line 22, which is upgraded to intercity, is planned to have a station on the west side of T1, which is arranged axisymmetrically with the intercity station.

This means that on the basis of the current line 3 line passing through the main building, new rail stations will be connected to the east and west in the future. Passengers do not need to walk to the main building to take the subway. By then, Line 22 with a speed of 160 kilometers per hour can reach the urban area faster than Line 3, the Guangzhou-Foshan Intercity can quickly reach the Financial City, Pazhou, University City, etc., and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity will lead to Knowledge City, Xintang, etc. . Chen Xiong revealed: "We will study the rail transit stations on both sides, and adjust the scattered arrivals to a relatively concentrated direction, so that passengers can get in and out of the airport more conveniently."

For passengers who drive, this renovation plans to upgrade the P2 open-air parking lot on the south side of T1 to a multi-storey indoor parking lot. The first floor of the parking lot is connected to the first floor of the terminal building. Urban rail transportation is introduced into the parking lot, and A, B. Pedestrian underground passage in the arrival area to create convenient transportation to improve the service quality of passengers entering and leaving the port.

Inside the terminal:

The overall design will be constructed in phases, and the renovation will be carried out without suspension

T1 has been in operation for 16 years, and the facilities and equipment in the building have been overloaded for many years, resulting in low operating efficiency. There are five problems that need to be resolved: due to the symmetry of the existing T1 and the large space characteristics, the entrance and exit of the terminal building (in the north-south direction) and the international/domestic area in the building are not highly recognizable; because T1 and T2 are in The architectural style is unified, resulting in low recognition of T1 and T2 on the facade; the currently implemented reconstruction project of the east wing security inspection channel will change the original symmetrical design in the terminal building after completion, which may be in harmony with the overall space The design of toilets cannot meet the needs of airport passengers; the area of waiting area for international arrivals is insufficient.

The creative solicitation document pointed out that the focus of this renovation work is to enhance the image of Terminal 1, renovate facilities and equipment, and re-plan service and commercial facilities to optimize operations and improve services. The renovation work will adopt a non-stop construction plan, the overall design, and the divisional and phased construction. It is expected that the renovation of the entire building will be completed within 6-8 years, and the terminal building will not stop operating during the entire process.

The goal of this transformation is to differentiate T1 and build it into a large-scale terminal complex integrating aviation, commerce, humanities, leisure and other functions, and an urban gateway with distinctive characteristics of Guangzhou and Guangzhou. After the renovation is completed, it will meet the SKYTRAX five-star standard and IATA requirements (ordinary passengers should at least meet the C-level standard, and CIP and VIP passengers (including airline business card passengers) should meet the A-level standard).

Reduce the walking distance of passengers, take into account the business visits, shopping and entertainment

According to the requirements of the creative solicitation documents, the T1 renovation design must meet the functional requirements of passengers, ensure that the various processes are convenient, orderly, efficient, and smooth, as far as possible clear functional divisions, compact layout, and reduce the walking distance of passengers. At the same time, the terminal needs to take into account multiple functions such as passenger reception, official business, visits, shopping, and leisure. Under the premise of meeting the traffic function, the design should fully consider service facilities such as commerce, catering, office, and entertainment to improve waiting Environment, improve service level.

The document mentions that T1 is the first public building to enter the field of vision after passengers arrive at Guangzhou Airport. The new plan should reflect its portal characteristics and show the image of the city. With the changes in passenger structure and requirements, terminal facilities must have a high degree of flexibility and scalability, including the area allocation of various functional areas, and the capacity of entry, exit, and transit facilities. Adapt to future process adjustments. Therefore, the graphic design requirements can not only meet the needs of the current period, but also combine the long-term development scale of the airport terminal area to achieve the organic connection of the terminal buildings in various periods.

The design tone is "light luxury", highlighting good-looking, tasty, fun and technological

According to the document, the interior decoration design of T1 should be based on the existing structural foundation and be significantly changed from the existing decoration, reaching the level of benchmarking first-line airports and commercial entities. The main frame structure and façade of the terminal building shall not be changed in principle. Partial modification of part of the façade and the increase or decrease of floor area inside the building are allowed. The existing ground (marble), glass curtain wall, T1 renovation style design is carried out on the basis of the roof.

The main tone of this design is suggested to be "light luxury", using simple but not simple design style, clean lines, pure colors, showing the timeless beauty of the structure itself, removing unnecessary cumbersome design and interference, and returning passengers clean The comfortable travel environment makes it easy for passengers to find the process route quickly and efficiently. The design elements should be able to extract the basic graphics belonging to T1, and use the basic graphic elements as the soul of the design throughout the style design of the terminal building.

The creative solicitation document introduced Baiyun Airport's reference suggestions for the design direction. "Functionally, it first satisfies the function of T1 as a terminal complex, and the main process is convenient for passengers to travel. Secondly, it should highlight the elements of'good-looking','delicious','fun', and'technology', and seamlessly integrate them into the overall design ."

The steel beam frame structure and huge air ducts that can be seen everywhere in T1 are the embodiment of post-modern industrial style. "The scheme design must be extended and improved on the basis of the post-modern industrial style elements, adding innovative and refined Lingnan cultural elements, and appropriate design in terms of color and material to reconcile the sense of alienation brought by the industrial style, creating a building with A post-modern industrial terminal with distinctive Lingnan characteristics." In addition, the six corridors can be designed with differentiated designs to reflect the characteristics of each corridor.

Set up iconic internet celebrity check-in points and upgrade commercial blocks to attract high-end brands

What are the key points of the renovation design? The document first mentioned the commercial system, and T1 should carry out design innovation on the basis of unchanged functions. The first floor of the main building is the commercial area with the theme of Cantonese cuisine, high-end passengers and passenger rest areas; each corridor and corridor area is designed to conform to the overall style of themed image commercial block to attract high-end brands to enter and enhance passengers The desire to consume; each corridor area is designed with a resting area for passengers to watch the aircraft.

The renovation of T1 needs to create a green atmosphere, highlighting the "flower city of Guangzhou" and the "prosperous and picturesque" garden-style airport concept; key areas can be designed for permanent greening; spatial façade greening and related design combined with flowing water can be considered (if permanent If it is necessary for the design of sexual greening, it can be considered to transform and design the partial ground).

In terms of architectural features, the main building has a unique central axis that runs from east to west, and the overall building is symmetrical from north to south, making it a unique business card for T1. The three-story central axis area of the main building has a unique spatial height (the highest point reaches 45 meters), which provides a broad space for space design. The load-bearing trapezoidal columns on both sides of the central axis are slightly monotonous, cold, and heavy. The renovation design should be optimized and considered.

The solicitation document specifically mentions the requirements of the iconic landscape. In the design, it is necessary to select a suitable point and set an iconic landscape in an appropriate form to make it highly recognizable, cultural and artistic, and enduring. Passengers come to T1 and even come to Baiyun Airport's indispensable online celebrity check-in point.

The transformation of T1 should use digital art, make a good overall plan in the design stage, and make surprising dynamic effects in a limited space or plane, making it a highlight. It is necessary to optimize the design of the three-story wind column, check-in island and sightseeing elevator of the main building to integrate them into the overall design. Editor/Sang Xiaomei