Memory of project by Foster + Partners
Queen Alia International Airport continues the practice’s explorations of the airport terminal as a building type and sets out a vision for an environmentally sensitive, regionally apt, airport architecture. Designed to serve as the main gateway to Amman – one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world – its design resonates with a sense of place and local culture. Strategically the building secures Amman’s position as the main hub for the Levant Region. Logistically, it allows the airport to grow by 6 per cent per annum for the next twenty-five years, increasing capacity from 3 million to 12.8 million passengers per annum by 2030.
In response to local building expertise and Amman’s climate, where summer temperatures vary markedly between daytime and night time the building is constructed entirely from concrete, the high thermal mass of the material providing passive environmental control.
The tessellated roof canopy comprises a series of shallow concrete domes, which extend to shade the facades. To enable seamless future expansion, each dome is a modular unit. The domes branch out from the supporting columns like the leaves of a desert palm and daylight floods the concourse through split beams at the column junctions. Echoing the veins of a leaf, a geometric pattern based on traditional Islamic forms is applied to each exposed soffit.
The terminal is glazed on all sides to open up long views to the aircraft on the apron and aid orientation. Two piers of departure gates run along either side of the central building, which contains the main processing areas and shops, lounges and restaurants.
Between these volumes, open-air courtyards draw on vernacular Arabic architecture and contribute to the terminal’s environmental strategy: the plants and trees help to filter pollution and pre-condition the air before it is drawn into the air handling system. In celebration of the tradition for family groups to congregate at the airport, the forecourt has been enlarged to create a landscaped plaza with seating, shaded by trees, where people can gather to bid farewell or welcome returning travellers.
Yesterday marked the official opening of Queen Alia International Airport, the spectacular new gateway to Amman.
The airport has a highly efficient passive design, which has been inspired by local traditions, and is based on a flexible modular solution that allows for future expansion – the new building secures the city’s position as the main hub for the Levant region and allows the airport to grow by 6 per cent per annum for the next twenty-five years, increasing capacity from 3.5 million to 12 million passengers per annum by 2030.
The airport has a highly efficient passive design, which has been inspired by local traditions, and is based on a flexible modular solution that allows for future expansion – the new building secures the city’s position as the main hub for the Levant region and allows the airport to grow by 6 per cent per annum for the next twenty-five years, increasing capacity from 3.5 million to 12 million passengers per annum by 2030.
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Norman Robert Foster (Reddish, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, 1 June 1935) is a British architect, founder of Foster + Partners, and one of the leading figures in contemporary architecture. His career is closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, structural innovation, and the integration of environmental considerations into buildings and infrastructure.
He studied architecture and urban planning at the University of Manchester, graduating in 1961. He subsequently received a Henry Fellowship to continue his education at Yale University in the United States, where he earned a master's degree in architecture and met Richard Rogers. In 1963, he co-founded Team 4 with Rogers, Su Rogers, Georgie Wolton, and Wendy Cheesman. Following the group's dissolution, he established Foster Associates in London in 1967 with Wendy Cheesman. The practice was later renamed Foster + Partners and is now headquartered in London, with offices worldwide.
His early work explored technological innovation, prefabrication, and spatial flexibility, influenced in part by his collaboration with Richard Buckminster Fuller. Notable early projects include the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich (1975) and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich (1978). His international reputation grew with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation headquarters in Hong Kong (1985), Stansted Airport in London (1991), and the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt (1997).
His career encompasses architecture, urban planning, and infrastructure projects across numerous countries. Among his best-known works are the reconstruction of the Reichstag in Berlin (1999), the Great Court of the British Museum (2000), the Millennium Bridge (2000), and London City Hall (2002). Other major projects include the Bilbao Metro, Canary Wharf Underground Station, 30 St Mary Axe in London (2004), the Millau Viaduct in France (2004), the Hearst Tower in New York (2006), Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport (2008), Apple Park in Cupertino (2017), and Bloomberg's European headquarters in London (2017).
Alongside his architectural practice, Foster has pursued research and educational initiatives focused on the future of cities. In 1999, he established the Norman Foster Foundation, whose headquarters opened in Madrid in 2017. The foundation promotes interdisciplinary research in architecture, urbanism, technology, and infrastructure, preserves his professional archive, and develops international educational programmes. In 2024, the Norman Foster Institute began its academic activities, focusing on the study of sustainable cities.
His numerous honours include the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (1983), the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1994), the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1999), the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture (2002), and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts (2009). He was knighted in 1990 and appointed a life peer in 1999, taking the title Lord Foster of Thames Bank.
Published on:
March 22, 2013
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"Official opening of Queen Alia International Airport by Foster & Partners" METALOCUS.
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