Dortmund Airport Administration

Two users, one building

The expansion of Dortmund Airport made it necessary to build a new building for the airport administration and cargo area in parallel with the terminal and the expansion of the hangar and parking areas. With the new administration building, a concept was proposed that was developed from a precise analysis of the location and requirements.

The two long, elegant building blocks are an expression of the internal logic of two independent usage units. They flank the glass entrance hall as a generous and representative reception gesture, from which visitors are distributed to the right and left to the “Airport” and “Cargo” administrative areas. As soon as you enter the airy and bright hall, which forms the identity-creating center as a common communication space, the two windows of the office blocks direct the visitor’s gaze axially towards the airport tower as a structural symbol of the airport.

In terms of their spatial design, the hall and building block form a joint ensemble and are also the result of an economic concept. The optimized use of space in the area of the two office wings and the simple and ingenious reduction of two buildings to a common entrance address make it possible to create a spacious and particularly representative building.

The hall is also integrated into the technical building concept as a climate buffer, thus ensuring decisive energy efficiency.

As uniformly and calmly as the two office blocks embody the image of the whole, they react in detail to the genius loci and its special requirements.

While the amount of daylight entering the workplaces behind the strip façade of the southern block can be controlled and regulated using movable shading elements, the façade of the northern block reacts to the nearby airport runway.

A special double-skin box-type window element is used here to generate increased comfort, allowing users to open the windows despite the proximity to the airfield and thus guaranteeing natural ventilation with optimized sound insulation.

As an address, figurehead and structural part of a corporate identity, the airport administration building offers a point of identification that sets the highest standards in terms of efficiency, innovation and sustainability.