On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the terminal 4 of the Airport Barajas of Madrid, designed by Richard Rogers Partnership in collaboration with the Estudio Lamela, from METALOCUS magazine we present you this project, considered as one of the biggest realized recently in Europe.
In the international competition for the New Terminal at Barajas Airport organized by Aena in 1997 won the project of the consortium of the British practice Richard Rogers Partnership and the Spanish practice Estudio Lamela. This project is characterised by its simplicity and its flexibility. Because of its enourmous volume, it was important to conserve a human scale with clear visual references.  Moreover, it was thought in harmony with the topography of Madrid and forms close to the nature.
 

Description of the project by Richard Rogers Partnership y Estudio Lamela

THE SELECTION OF THE PROJECT

The international competition for Terminal 4 at Barajas Airport was won by a consortium of Richard Rogers Partnership, the Spanish practice Estudio Lamela and two engineering companies TPS (UK) and Initec in 1997.  The design was chosen for it simplicity, adaptability and flexibility, allowing for future changes and extensions. 

With a total area of 1,200,000 m sq, the NAT is considered the largest building in Europe and will have an enormous urban, economic and social impact on both Madrid and Spain. One of the successes of the building is the integration of the functional elements of the terminal to enhance the aesthetic quality of the building.  

One consideration of the design was how the building could improve the passenger experience, creating an attractive, peaceful atmosphere. This led to the utilisation of materials and finishes which would convey a sense of calm.  The simple palette of materials and the use of a kit-of-parts approach to detailing reinforces the direct simplicity of the architectural concept.  In the exterior, the wavy shapes found within the building reflect the surroundings and the horizontal lines of the Madrid landscape, relating passengers to the external world.  Despite the size of the building, it still allows passengers to easily orientate themselves using the many visual references. A straight forward linear diagram and a clear progression of spaces for departing and arriving passengers contributes to the legibility and usability of the terminal for passengers and workers alike.  

AIMS OF THE DESIGN

The design selected has four basic principles described below.

Integration into the landscape
Airport terminals are normally surrounded by secondary elements (car parks, power-stations etc.) that distract from a clear orientation through the airport. In this design, such structures are integrated into the main building, taking into account the topography of the area, expressing its local and homogeneous character.  The canyons – large courtyards full of light - establish a sequence that incorporates the landscape into the interior space.

Energy
Despite the extreme heat of summer in Madrid, the design team were committed to the use of passive environmental systems wherever possible, while maximising transparency and views towards the aircraft and the mountains beyond. The building benefits from a north-south orientation with the primary facades facing east and west – the optimum layout for protecting the building against solar gain. The facades are protected by a combination of deep roof overhangs and external shading. A low energy displacement ventilation system is used in the pier, and elsewhere a more conventional high velocity system is used.  Given the multi-level section, a strategy was also needed to bring natural light down into the lower levels. The solution is a series of light-filled ‘canyons’.  The canyons are spectacular full-height spaces, spanned by bridges in which arriving and departing passengers, though segregated, can share the drama of the imposing space.

Spatial Clarity 
Barajas is a model of legibility, with a straightforward linear diagram and a clear progression of spaces for departing and arriving passengers. The accommodation is distributed over six floors; three above ground for check-in, security, boarding and baggage reclaim, and three underground levels for maintenance, baggage processing and transferring passengers between buildings.  The flow of passengers starts in the forecourt and goes through the check-in counters and the security control until the boarding lounge. 

Flexibility
The layout proposed is adaptable to all activities at the airport, maintaining a strong architectural identity through all stages of the project, with a view to the need for potential extensions of the buildings.

 

 

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Architects
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Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
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Local architects
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Estudio Lamela
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Contractors
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Terminal: Ferrovial, FCC. Satellite: Dragados, OHL. Parking: Dragados
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Interiorism and others
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COMSA
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Client
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AENA
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Dates
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1998 (project) - 2006 (opening)
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Built surface
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470.000 sqm of the terminal building and 315.000 sqm of the satellite building
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Total budget
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6.000 millones de euros
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Estudio Lamela is a Spanish architecture company founded by Antonio Lamela and currently led by his son Carlos Lamela. Besides its headquarters in Madrid, the firm has offices in Poland, Mexico and Doha. With almost 60 years of experience since its foundation in 1954, the company has developed more than 1.600 projects in 32 countries.

In the early 60s the company started to work in the then emerging tourist architecture, in particular in the south of Spain and the Balearic islands. During these years, the company also developed the famous Colon Towers, a complex composed of two towers strung with a novel technique in the emblematic Plaza de Colón in Madrid.

In the 80s and 90s, the studio diversified its work, becoming one of the most active firms of Spain. In 1984, Carlos Lamela joined the company. This period included the refurbishment of the Santiago Bernabeu football Stadium for Real Madrid, and from then on the company began to specialize in sport projects. During the 90s, the firm was awarded with the important project of the New Terminal 4 at Madrid-Barajas Airport, in collaboration with Richard Rogers Partnership, Initec and TPS. Another important project was the ‘Ciudad de las Comunicaciones’ headquarters of Telefonica.
 
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Richard Rogers. (Florencia, July 23, 1933 - London, December 18, 2021) Since founding the practice in 1977, Richard Rogers has gained international reknown as an architect and urbanist. He is the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, recipient of the 1985 RIBA Gold Medal and the 2006 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (La Biennale di Venezia). He was knighted in 1991, made a life peer in 1996 and a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2008.

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Published on: December 29, 2016
Cite: "10 years. T4 Madrid Barajas Airport. 2006-2016" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/10-years-t4-madrid-barajas-airport-2006-2016> ISSN 1139-6415
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