King Salman International Airport to become fourth biggest in the world following scale-up of existing HOK-designed site
Foster & Partners has won a competition to design the masterplan for an airport in Saudi Arabia which will be one of the largest in the world.
At 57sq km, King Salman International Airport will overtake Orlando International Aiport in the US state of Florida as the world’s fourth biggest airport.
Serving the Saudi capital Riyadh, it will include six parallel runways, 12sq km of airport support facilities, residential and recreational buildings, retail outlets and logistics space.
The scheme is a massive expansion of the existing King Khalid International Airport, which was designed by HOK and opened in 1983.
Existing terminal buildings, including the airport’s 60,000sq ft mosque which was among the first in the world to be built using modern construction techniques, will be retained as part of the expansion.
Images show dense clusters of buildings surrounding the runways and existing structures, linked by a network of linear parks and tree lined roads.
Described by Fosters as an “aerotropolis”, it aims to serve up to 120 million travellers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050, with the capacity to process 3.5 million tonnes of cargo.
Head of studio Luke Fox said the masterplan will reimagine the traditional terminal as a “single concourse loop, served by multiple entrances.”
“The terminal is very much of its place and connects passengers to the sensory experiences of the city, with natural elements, tempered light and state-of-the-art facilities,” he added.
The objective of the expansion is to boost the city’s position as a global logistics and transport hub. Fosters senior partner Seif A. Bahaa Eldin said: “This visionary development will play an important role in shaping the city into a global hub of creativity and innovation.”
The practice made headlines in December 2020 when it withdrew from Architects Declare, a climate campaign collective it co-founded, over the group’s opposition to designing airport schemes.
Practice founder Norman Foster said last year that architects who refuse to work on airport projects because of the aviation industry’s contribution to carbon emissions were taking a “hypocrtical moral stance”.
He argued that aviation has a vital role to play in coordinating international action to fight global warming.
Fosters said sustainability would be “at the core” of King Salman International Airport and that it would make use of renewable energy suppliers and “cutting edge green initiatives”.
The practice has also come under fire over its design of Lusail Stadium in Qatar, the venue which will host the World Cup final, because of the open-air building’s dependence on energy-intensive air conditioning.
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