Istanbul New Airport / Nordic Architects / Turkey

5 min readMay 18, 2019

Architects: Grimshaw Architects, Haptic Architects, Nordic Architects
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Client: Cengiz-kolin- Limak-Mapa-Kalyon Consortium
Project Area: 1,400,000 m2
Concept Design: Grimshaw, Nordic Office of Architecture, Haptic Architects
Design & Development Architect: Scott Brownrigg
Programme & Project Management: ARUP

By the edge of the Black Sea, 35 km outside Istanbul, lies Istanbul Airport. Nordic and partners developed the concept design of the mind blowing airport, featuring the largest terminal in the world with the capacity to cater for 90 million passengers per year. This will increase to over 150 million passengers once fully complete. Terminal 1 of the Istanbul New Airport will be the world’s largest airport terminal under one roof, with a gross floor area close to one million square meters. The airport partially opened in 2018 and is fully operational in April 2019.

The Istanbul New Airport will be modern and highly functional, with a unique sense of place. The architectural design of the terminal is closely linked to the area’s unique character and will act as a stunning gateway to Istanbul and Turkey. In spite of its size, the terminal building is conceived as one that sits calmly in its context, with a clear horizontal expression. With a generous plaza and an efficient traffic forecourt on the land-side, rail, metro, bus, coach and parking seamlessly integrates with the terminal and the proposed Airport Park Central.

The terminal is organised to give passengers a coherent transition from landside to airside in an environment that is light, spacious and easy to navigate. Arranged over two and a half levels, with a generous central hall connecting to piers at each end, the simplicity of its organization and ease of navigation belies its size — it will be the largest airport in the world. Serving up to 90 million passengers annually once all phases are complete, the project creates a memorable sense of arrival.

The design draws on the architectural character of Istanbul — a city rich with color, pattern and history since its Byzantine origins — and includes vaulted ceilings pierced with skylights that draw in diffuse daylight and create an open, lofty volume with clear lines of sight. Focused beams of sunlight illuminate key areas in the terminal, such as check-in, security, customs and retail areas.

Turkey’s giant new airport, set to become one of the world’s mega aviation hubs, will reinforce the country’s historical role as a bridge between East and West. As a pivot between key air routes across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the hub is designed to be able to handle as many as 150–200 million passengers annually once it runs at full capacity by 2050.

The country’s flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, will relocate its operation centre from Ataturk International Airport to the new hub as it positions for continued growth. Upon completion, Istanbul’s New Airport will have a total footprint the size of a small city, hosting flights to over 300 destinations.

Project Details:

700,000 m2 total footprint of operational buildings.
36 month turnaround: from design to delivery.
30 stakeholders involved throughout the process, excluding contractors.

At a price of $11.7 billion, the New Istanbul Airport will be one of the world’s busiest. The New Istanbul Airport was constructed and will be operated by iGA, a joint-venture consortium that was awarded a contract in 2013 and will be continually improving upon the airport over 25 years.

The airport will utilize some of the newest technology emerging in a variety of sectors. Information Technology solutions featured at the airport will include BIM (Building Information Modelling), Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Smart Kiosks, and Social Media enabled services.

The airport cost $11.7 billion to build and is the largest public works project in Turkey’s history.

The airport will replace Kamal Ataturk International Airport, which will be closed to commercial flights but still be used for aviation fairs.

Arup was appointed as strategic advisor and programme and project manager for the design and construction stages of Turkish Airline’s new operational facilities at the hub, and was also the design manager and project manager for the lounges and key customer experience touch-point in the terminal.

Designed to provide a world-class travel experience, the airport has improved passenger flow with comfortable walking distances and an ample leisure offering. A mega-hub of this capacity requires operational facilities to match Turkish Airlines alone will have around ten different maintenance and operational buildings on site with a total footprint of 700,000 m2.