Published on: July 13, 2009

Speirs and Major Associates sent us their project Beijing Capital International Airport in China awarded with special citation on International Association of Lighting Designers Awards in 2009.

The description by Speirs And Major Associates follows:

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Client: Beijing Capital International Airport
Architect: Foster and Partners
Lighting architect: Speirs and Major Associates
Engineers: Arup
Photographer: Fu Xing

Beijing’s new international terminal is the world’s largest and most advanced airport, its dragon-like form crowned by a soaring roof. The design challenges combined with the speed of the program demanded an elemental approach to the lighting – it had to meet operational requirements, enhance passenger experience, reveal the architecture and provide a sustainable solution.

The concept had to be developed within three months, presented in Beijing and then converted into sufficient detail to brief local engineers. The practice’s previous experience of handling large airport projects (Terminal 5, Heathrow, and Barajas, Madrid) paid dividends. The brief was quickly disseminated, the right questions were asked and a strategic approach was agreed, all in record time.

The approach consists of three lighting components: a general lighting system, which provides functional lighting, common circulation lighting, which helps route passengers, and fit-out lighting which brings accent and drama.

The general lighting comes from a high-level system integrated above the slatted roof (mounted on gantries providing easy access for maintenance). This illuminates the principle volumes and provides feature lighting to the roof and structure.

Concourse lighting is provided by paired, bracket-mounted downlights. These create rhythm and sparkle in the polished floor. Additional spotlighting was used where higher levels of illumination were needed. The lighting is flexible to accommodate future change.

One of the most striking elements is the glowing roof, the colour changing from red to yellow along the length of the building. By day this is delivered by natural light. After dark, artificial lighting takes over to create a dramatically lit roofscape, using metal halide floodlights which uplight the internal roof structure. The view through the slats gives the appearance of a glowing roof. The concern was to deliver the most energy-efficient solution without compromising the design. Highly efficient direct lighting combined with low wattage indirect lighting was calculated to be far better in this respect than indirect lighting.

Across the project there are common circulation design elements such as escalators, moving walkways and fixed link bridges. These are lit consistently using warm white sources. Fit-out elements including desks, trees and benches have lighting integrated to provide functional human-scale lighting.

The external lighting covers the image of the building, roads and landscaping.The aim was to minimize environmental impact while creating an iconic image for the scheme, particularly when seen from approach roads and the air.

The one area that required an atypical solution compared to the rest of the project was the Ground Transportation Centre. Here gimbal downlights are recessed into the structure and supported by low level functional and feature lighting to provide scale and define the track edge.

During the detailed design and implementation process surprisingly few queries were raised. It was clear that the design was largely being followed through in a manner that was faithful to the design intent and as a result the final solution goes a long way to realizing the original vision.

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Note of the editor:

Please note the copyright of these images is retained by Speirs And Major Associates and the photographer Fu Xing. Use of those images is subject to them being used for this article only. Publication of any image in any form or fashion must include a credit for both Speirs And Major Associates and the photographer.