Dortmund Airport

Double hangar with parking garage

With the expansion, the airport company is focusing on increasing the number of passengers. Not only will the old terminal for private air traffic be converted and replaced by a new terminal, but the existing runway will also be extended. The expansion also requires the reorganization and expansion of the existing aircraft and fire department hangars as well as the construction of new large parking garages.

As large quantities of soil are required for the expansion of the runway, it makes sense to excavate the existing earth masses between the old and new terminal and to position the new multi-storey parking lot and the new two-storey aircraft hangar as a counterweight to the earth pressure of the twelve-meter-high edge of the site.

This “double-decker” concept is a successful response to the cramped spatial situation and creates a clear separation between the users – private aviation above and commercial aviation below .

The aim is to create a new structure for the airport that also allows for a future linear expansion of the new terminal parallel to the new parking garage.

In addition to the two-storey hangar, the parking garage is also a special technical feature. In order to minimize the number of fire compartments required for this building, a special smoke extraction system with positive pressure has been developed. The structure is only divided into smoke compartments, which has significantly reduced the costs of structural fire protection.

Overall, the reorganization of the airport area represents a precise coordination of a highly rational design and construction management as well as a technically determined functional sequence. The form follows its function, and architecture and urban planning form an engineering-like unity.