Navigating the future of the aviation sector requires architects and designers to walk a complex path, often contending with opposing drivers to create outcomes that go on to define a city’s first impression.
In this series, Woods Bagot’s aviation experts delve into the history, motivation and challenges of select aviation debates – sharing how these tensions will shape airport design into the future.
Here, Principal Neil Hill weighs local and global approaches in airport design – discussing the importance of knowing where you’ve arrived.
Where we are from can be a big part of who we are, uniquely binding people and place to influence our identities.
A front door to our places, airports contribute to our sense of homecoming and discovery. For returning residents, it may trigger familiar feelings of comfort and belonging. For tourists, it can mark the beginning of an adventure – offering tantalising moments for the journey ahead.
As air travel continues to expand our global horizons, our desire for meaningful connections to the places we visit can arguably grow even stronger with so much choice on offer.
Airports, as thresholds, can play a vital role in shaping our experiences by helping us feel connected to the places we traverse.
However, the airport experience often causes stress – brought on by incidents like tense security processing, rushing to find the gates, being mired in the queues and the transactional nature of global transit. These stressors undeniably compromise our sense of connection. Instead of being mere passageways, airports should offer a deeper more personalised experience that is backed by efficient, discrete, non-invasive and safe technologies to serve our travel needs.
I believe the best airports immerse travellers in a narrative of place, people and culture, to experience the wide diversity of life beyond our perceived local horizons. At its very best, a personalized human and place centric airport design convincingly surpasses the generic global processing nature of mass movement we often experience across global and local airports.
Woods Bagot is the architectural partner in Multiplex’s core consultant team to design and construct the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport terminal. The terminal is being designed with the customer at its heart – with international and domestic services under one roof to deliver a seamless experience for airlines and passengers, whether they be leisure flyers, business travellers or families.
Building on the competition and reference design by Zaha Hadid Architects and Cox Architecture, Woods Bagot’s design encapsulates the sense of place and qualities of the Western Sydney region for a compelling journey experience through the landside, terminal and airside transitions.
In optimising the design Woods Bagot has held true to the original narrative concept which took its inspiration from the local flora of Western Sydney and the region’s natural qualities such as the Great Australian Light.
“I believe the best airports immerse travellers in a narrative of place, people and culture, to experience the wide diversity of life beyond our perceived local horizons.”
Early sketch exploration of how Western Sydney Airport will relate to the surrounding landscape, by Neil Hill.
While conceptualising the identity of Western Sydney International Airport (WSI), the team created a vibrant local and global gateway experience that starts while passengers are still in the air.
Understated and mindful, WSI’s terminal and landside precincts evoke a crisp, transparent, pavilion-like architectural form that befits the areas powerful native landscapes. Inspired by the grasses and tree-lined creeks of the Nepean River and the ochre-coloured Cumberland Plains, the design also acknowledges the indigenous worldview – which is often aerial in perspective – creating visual experiences from multiple perspectives.
Drawing on the beauty of the vivid natural light of the region, WSI also features an undulating ceiling inspired by the topography and distant layering of the Blue Mountains. This feature is a contemporary interpretation of the natural motion of these topographic forms to impart the same sense of rolling landscape offered by the ZAHA and COX Architects competition winning design from 2019.
To truly reflect the cultural diversity of Western Sydney, the Woods Bagot design team have designed WSI in a way that captures the essence of place through the creation of memorable, light filled spaces enriched by a curated selection of local materials, colours, textures and patterns. The decision to incorporate the world’s leading technologies subtly allows the quintessentially Australian experience – deftly underpinned by indigenous narratives – to take centre stage for generations to come.
Upon arriving at Western Sydney Airport, you’re greeted with a sense of joy and belonging; you know where you have arrived.
Concept sketch of Western Sydney Airport by Neil Hill.
“Upon arriving at Western Sydney Airport, you’re greeted with a sense of joy and belonging; you know where you have arrived.”
Neil Hill, Principal and Transport Sector Leader (Australia)
Neil has over 25 years’ multi-sector design leadership experience with a focus in urban transport. As Lead Design Architect, recent and current projects include the Western Sydney Airport, Sydney’s North West Metro, Sydney’s Central Station Main Works, Sydney Yard Access Bridge, Crows Nest Station and the reference design for Brisbane’s Cross River Rail including as Technical Advisor and a member of the CRRDA’s Design Review Panel.
Neil has expertise in urban design, master planning, design and delivery of large complex infrastructure projects. Central to Neil’s work ethic is to enable design quality collaboratively with public and private sector clients often within large integrated multi-disciplined teams.
Contact Tess Dolan, Insights & Communications Leader – Global for media enquiries
Tess is Woods Bagot’s Global Insights Leader. Passionate about clarity, relevance and the creation of genuinely interesting content, Tess works with our innovators to create insights on the future of design, as applied to its impact on how we live, work, travel, play, learn, stay healthy and anything in-between. See Woods Bagot’s Journal for more.
Sydney, Australia