A team of architects led by BIG and HOK have won an international competition to design the largest dock of Zurich Airport in Switzerland. Composed predominantly of regional wood, The new Dock A and adjacent buildings seek to strengthen the airport’s continued status as the gateway of Switzerland. Bjarke Ingels, BIG founder and creative director, said: “As airports grow and evolve and as international guidelines and safety requirements change, airports

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and Cox Architecture have won an international competition to design the new Western Sydney Airport in Australia, proposing both a passenger-focused experience and a leisure destination for locals. The new AU$5.3b (US$3.6b, €3.3b, £2.8b) greenfield airport is aimed at helping to drive the growth of Sydney and its greater metropolitan area over the coming decades. In addition to a design for the airport, ZHA and Cox

Architecture practice Ministry of Design (MOD) have completed Durasport – an interactive athletics retail boutique in Singapore. Situated at the recently renovated Jewel Changi Airport, the 183 sq m shop, with its chrome-finished, streamlined interiors, was designed to resemble a futuristic lab. According to the architects, the retail space was created to provide high-performance athletes, such as cyclists, mountaineers, and skiers, with personalised "experiential zones" where they can test and

The Moshe Safdie-designed Jewel Changi Airport – an atmospheric leisure complex and air terminus in Singapore – has finally opened its doors to the public. The result of a four-year construction process, the US$1.25bn (€1.1bn, £958m) structure is roofed by a unique glass and steel geodesic dome that links to its crowning feature, a 40-metre-tall waterfall dubbed the "Rain Vortex". The impressive complex – a city in its own right

Jewel Changi Airport – long-praised as representing a new paradigm in passenger experience design – is scheduled to open its doors this spring in Singapore. Planned by Safdie Architects and delivered by BuroHappold Engineering, the first-of-its-kind transit hub will double as an attraction and boast several publicly accessible and "community-centric" leisure facilities and hospitality outlets, including boutique hotels and restaurants, a 40-metre-high indoor waterfall, and a five-storey "paradise garden". Shaped

Construction is nearing completion on “a world-class, signature lifestyle destination” at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which has been designed to boost the city-state’s appeal as a stopover point for global travellers. Conceived as the world’s most ambitious airport leisure attraction, the complex, called The Jewel, is being built inside an enormous glass dome covering a 40m-high indoor waterfall and a five-storey ‘forest valley’ with 2,500 trees and 100,000 shrubs. The building

Those with deep pockets and a passion for the world of aviation have been presented a rare opportunity to own a piece of flight history, with the entire contents of Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 1 about to go under the hammer in London. Lots up for grabs include airport furniture, working baggage carousels, check-in desks, the terminal’s signage and clocks, and a series of large murals created in the 1950s by

Global tour operator Virgin Holidays has announced plans to build an airport departure lounge with a difference: it will be located on a beach in Barbados. From summer 2018, flyers leaving the Caribbean country will be able to be transferred straight from their hotel to The Departure Beach, located on Brownes Beach in Carlisle Bay, where they will drop off their luggage and receive their boarding pass. Until it is

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from the Serpentine Pavilion’s next architect to the world’s first ‘bird airport’. Monday • In an exclusive interview with CLAD, the architect who oversaw the creation of Lisbon’s sparkling new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology explains the inspiration behind the acclaimed design. Read here. • Architecture studio HKS have been brought on board to design h.Club LA;

Landscape architects McGregor Coxall have won an international competition to design a wetland nature sanctuary envisioned as the world’s very first “bird airport”. Each year more than 50 million birds fly from the Antarctic reaches to the northern tip of the earth along the East Asian-Australian Flyway (EAAF) seeking food and shelter. However, this corridor is under severe threat from coastal urbanisation and the resultant destruction of bird-friendly habitats. In

Hilton Worldwide has opened it latest addition – the Mecanoo-designed Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol – which features a dramatic facade comprising a cubic, moulded structure with a distinctive pattern and a vast glass-roofed atrium. The hotel, designed by the Dutch architects, will certainly have a visual impact on passengers arriving and departing from the airport, with the 3,150sq m (33,900sq ft) complex having three main elements: a plinth, a rotated

Global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will are building a new, fully-functioning city surrounding one of the largest airports in the world. The firm are masterplanning the buildings, infrastructure and transportation networks for a 1,700-acre (690-hectare) development surrounding Istanbul’s New Airport, which is currently under construction. The huge development, tentatively called the Grand Airport City, has been designed as a centre of economic, cultural and social life on the doorstep of

Japanese architects are getting out of the blocks in terms of promoting active design ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with Narita Airport’s newly-opened Terminal 3 centred around an indoor running track. The Tokyo Olympics will have a strong theme of active design, with Arup set to masterplan the Games. The cycling helmet-shaped Olympic Stadium has been designed by Zaha Hadid, while several other wellness-related facilities are also in the

The island of St Helena is undergoing a historical change as it attempts to kick-start its tourism industry following the recent announcement that the island's first airport will be operational by 2016. The 47sq m (121sq km) island has seen major reforms to its immigration, investment, land development and tax regulations in an attempt to attract foreign investors to the island. Plans have already been announced for a £70m hotel,

Hertfordshire-based construction group Willmott Dixon has been appointed to build a new £10m hotel at London Southend Airport, which is due to open ahead of the 2012 Games. The Leach Rhodes Walker-designed five-storey property will comprise 129 bedrooms and will feature a restaurant and a private dining room on the top floor. Stobart Group, the logistics and transport provider, operates London Southend Airport and aims to provide facilities for passengers,

EPR Architects have gained planning permission for an eco-friendly hotel at the Bristol Airport. The 251-bedroom hotel will be located close to the terminal building and is designed to be sustainable, minimising the consumption of energy, materials and water through the selection of construction materials and technologies that minimise site wastage and that are locally sourced wherever possible. The ‘social heart’ of the hotel is the ground floor reception area

A new report has concluded that there are no major issues preventing plans for the construction of a £40bn floating airport off the Essex and Kent coasts in the Thames Estuary. The feasibility study, which was carried out by the Thames Estuary Research and Development Company (TERDC), called for further studies to investigate the ecological impact of the scheme but found no "insoluble issues" to halt the proposals. London mayor

Bromley Council has approved plans to build a new hotel at the Biggin Hill Airport in Kent. Designed by EPR Architects, the four-star hotel will have 76 rooms, a number of meeting rooms and a brasserie style restaurant. The hotel will be separated into two elements – an air-side public areas and a quieter bedroom wing. The public areas will have terraces with uninterrupted views across the airfield to the

London-based EPR architects have submitted a detailed planning application to Bromley Council for a four-star hotel at the Biggin Hill Airport in south east London. EPR has provided designs for a 76-room hotel with a restaurant at the airport, which played a major role as an RAF base in the Battle Of Britain during WWII. Biggin Hill Airport managing director Peter Lonergan said the airport is in "desperate need of