Copenhagen Airport, Pier E
Copenhagen Airport, Pier E
Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects
ARCHITECTS
Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects
PHOTOS
Rasmus Hjortshøj (8), Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects (1)
STATUS
Built
AREA
300,000 sqft - 500,000 sqft
YEAR
2020
LOCATION
Kastrup, Denmark
TYPE
Transport + Infrastructure › Airport
Copenhagen Airport is consecutively ranked amongst the world’s best international airports with Pier E as the biggest expansion in 25 years.
Wrapped in Nordic aesthetic, Pier E distributes air passengers to and from their respective gates distributed on four storeys with a total of 8 gates, 15 bus gates, passport and border control and a transfer area. It offers an intense yet humble architectural experience as a spatial flow machine bathing in daylight, with floating walkways lined with ash wood lamellas complemented by in-situ cast concrete, integrated artworks and marble terrazzo floors.
The ground and first floor holds the departure area. On the second floor, the arrival area breaks up into three floating walkways. In between the concrete columns and cores, these floating walkways provide smooth and transparent passage and accommodate different passenger categories.
The transparency promotes interaction between travellers in a carefully choreographed, natural flow that brings them smoothly to and from the terminals.
Lined with 250,000 Nordic ash wood lamellas, the underside of the walkway balconies complement the in-situ cast raw concrete and marble terrazzo flooring with carpet-lined waiting areas.
The large façade windows and skylights provide generous daylight and highlight the spatiality and materials as well as the vast numbers of integrated artworks, such as a two tonnes colourful ceiling hung sculpture by William Soya and a 132-m2 glass mosaic by Alexander Tovborg.
The furniture is custom designed to complement the in-situ cast concrete walls. Chairs are dark grey form-moulded aluminium and the ash wood waiting bench by the window section works as a radiator cover. Designed with varying perforation, the walls contribute to a pleasant acoustic environment.
Pier E continues the airport’s proud design tradition of combining a strong functionality with high-quality materials.
The inspiration was the 1960 design of Copenhagen Airport's Terminal 2, which is an example of a complex airport building where balconies, floating walkways and a generous influx of daylight form a coherent expression.
