VISION 51 — FLYING HIGH
This is way beyond most airport boxes.
It is and that was based on patient care and staff being
able to move from one part of the building to the other
in a seamless manner. You will see circulation is quite
prominent in the building, with a lot of natural light and
the relationship of space. Everything is really trying to be
as transparent and open as possible with good circulation
where people can get from A to B very quickly. That was
a huge focus.
How does glass help achieve your objectives of public
interface – between city and outback?
Administrative staff who overlook the apron have a
180 degree view for visual awareness when a plane’s
arriving or leaving. It’s the same at ground floor from
the nurse stations and patient care area. Double-glazing
is strategically placed to allow that to happen. It forms
the main, north-facing curtain wall on a slight incline with
shading devices every 500 mm. There are slot windows
on the west and they’re made more prominent on the
east and south. These are also double-glazed for thermal
and acoustic reasons, given it’s part of an airport.
That’s the envelope…what about internally? Glazing
quite dramatically de-materialises your interiors.
Internal glass makes the building as transparent as
possible. In this meeting room all four walls are glass
with views to the apron and beyond. The policy here
is open doors so it was really important that we sort
of break down those barriers between open plan
work-stations and offices. Most of the main rooms
are surrounded by glass to keep that transparency.
“The RFDS’s home of steel and glass
is all faceted, crisp necessity. ”
VISION