RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Western (over €3,000,000)

Architects Comment
The existing terminal building at Shannon Airport was constructed in 1972. At that time, it was planned that the next stage of development would be the relocation of the Departures Facility to adjoin the new structure. In order to implement this objective a Design Team was appointed in July 1997 for the Terminal Extension Project. The development at Shannon forms part of an overall infrastructural improvement to Ireland’s airports.

The project has been designed in the context to a new road system with rationalised traffic flow for passengers arriving or departing Shannon Airport by road. The extension is contained over four floors with the bulk of the 10,800 sq.m area of accommodation on the Ground and First Floors. The new accommodation includes Departures Hall with 40 no. Check-in Desks, Car Hire and Airlines Desks, a 350 Seat Restaurant, Bar and additional Office Space. New baggage screening facilities are provided with a tunnel link to a refurbished basement storey. The top-level viewing areas provide for visibility of stationary and airborne aircraft, in addition to views of the local landscape and Shannon Estuary. The development was phased in nature, given the requirement for the existing airport to remain in full operation during the building contract.

Concept:

The design of the building revolves around the specific needs of the passenger for clarity or orientation, ease of movement and for an environment, which avoids the introspective aspect of many airport buildings. The architectural expression and materials used signify the functional organisation of the building and attempt to convey the special and unique character of the historic location as the gateway to the West of Ireland.

Daylight:

The control and manipulation of daylight was critical to both the architectural expression and energy philosophy of the building. The passenger’s connection with the external environments is maintained with significant areas of glazing at Ground Floor Level to the south and west of the Departures Hall. A glazed screen is provided over the full length of the restaurant, a space with a dual aspect overlooking the estuary and the Departures Hall. The Street roof responds directly to the need for controlled light with South light controlled by the use of sand blasted glass louvres. High performance solar control glass is used throughout the building. The visual clues associated with views of the external environment assist the public in navigating within the building.

Structure & Finishes:

The Airport Extension is mainly constructed using steel frame structures; however, steel is not the dominant element in the architectural expression of the building. The key elements of structural expression are the dominant oversized concrete portals of the Departures Hall and the Glulam frames to the Street roof. Glulam rafters also span between the concrete portals supporting an aluminium deck roof.

The design approach to material selection was to examine a pallet of material with an inherent pigment or tone, and to avoid applied colour. This criteria was applied to each element of the building, from the Glulam and concrete of the structure, to the stone cladding, oak and glass of the skin, and to the aluminium panels of the ceiling and roof.

Client Comment
We in Aer Rianta Shannon are very pleased with the final product. It reflects the efforts made by all team members to achieve a very high standard.

We also wish to thank the Design Team, led by Murray O’Laoire architects, for this building. It has been a very rewarding relationship, and the final product owes much to the talents and abilities of all the team. Their ability to inspire confidence in their vision for their project was crucial to completing the design phase in such a short period (... from appointment to contract documents in eight months...) We congratulate them.