Developed to reduce congestion at the capital’s existing airport, Beijing Daxing will become a major transportation hub for the region with the world’s fastest growing demand for international travel and is fully integrated in the country’s developing transportation network. Initially serving 45 million passengers per year, Beijing Daxing will accommodate 72 million travelers by 2025 and plans for further expansion to serve up to 100 million passengers and 4 million tons of cargo per year.
The 700,000m2 Beijing Daxing passenger terminal includes an 80,000m2 ground transportation hub offering direct connections to Beijing, the national high-speed rail network and local rail services, providing a catalyst for economic development in Tianjin and Hebei Province.
Recently given the airport code ‘PKX’ by the International Air Transport Association, Beijing Daxing is setting new standards in air transport services, serving the region’s growing population in a compact and efficient passenger terminal that can adapt for future growth.
Echoing principles in the traditional Chinese architecture of arranging interconnected spaces around a central courtyard, the terminal design guides all passengers seamlessly through the relevant departure, arrival or transfer zones to the main courtyard in the center – a multi-layered meeting room at the heart of the terminal.
Six shapes that flow inside the roof of the terminal dome reach the ground to support the structure and bring natural light into it, directing all passengers to the central courtyard. Natural light also enters the terminal via a network of linear skylights that provide an intuitive navigation system throughout the building, guiding passengers to and from their departure gates.
The structural span of up to 100m creates ample public space for the terminal and allows the highest level of flexibility for future reconfiguration. The radial compact terminal design allows a maximum number of aircraft to be parked directly at the terminal with a minimum distance from the center of the building, providing excellent comfort for passengers and flexibility in operation. 79 gates with air bridges are directly connected to the terminal which can quicken the process of six full A380 aircraft simultaneously.
Five aircraft wharves radiate directly from the terminal’s main square where all passenger services and facilities are located, allowing passengers to walk relatively short distances through the airport without the need for an automatic shuttle train. As a result, the terminal’s compact design minimizes the distance between check-in and gates, as well as connections between gates for passenger transfers. This radial configuration ensures the furthest boarding gate can be accessed in less than 8 minutes.
Photovoltaic power stations are installed throughout the airport to provide a minimum capacity of at least 10MW. Beijing Daxing’s centralized heating with waste heat recovery is supported by a combined ground source heat pump system that combines a concentrated energy supply area of nearly 2.5 million m2.
The airport also implements a rainwater collection and water management system that uses natural storage, natural permeation and natural purification of up to 2.8 million cubic meters of water in new wetlands, lakes and rivers to prevent flooding and counter the ‘hot island’ effect of summer in the local microclimate.
