In 1996 Terry Farrell & Partners’ won a £300 million competition to build an integrated transport centre and control tower for the new Seoul international airport in South Korea. Within the context of this project Terry Farrell and Partners operated as part of a consortium consisting of Samoo/Sam Woo Architects and DMJM. The main part of the contract for Terry Farrell and Partners was a 30% detail design submission. The airport had already been masterplanned with a crescent shaped terminal plus four additional oblong shaped terminals, with a train running under the runway to link all five.

The Transportation Centre was considered by the client to be the key element in the new airport’s access system. It was designed to be the primary transition point for the major public and private transportation systems serving passengers, visitors and employees. The centre provided a link between off-airport sites and on-airport facilities, and provided for modal changes between surface motor vehicles, high speed rail systems, Seoul metropolitan transit system and multiple automated people movers.

The Terry Farrell & Partners proposal was for a tower, containing the control room, to sweep up from two curved legs which embraced a glazed great hall. The lower level housed all three types of rail transport, and car parks lay on either side. The shape consciously mirrored the monocoque shape of aircraft which simultaneously provided various structural solutions. The ‘feet’ of the building resolved the crescent-shape of the terminal and dispersed most of the weight of the building; the arches below the feet allowed the rail tracks to run smoothly into the terminal; and the underground parking left the ground floor sufficiently clear for landscaping.

Material in archive also bears project code of NSIA which has been used interchangeably throughout project records.

Construction Partners:
Client: KOACA (Korean Airport Authority)
Architects and Engineers: Samoo; DMJM (Daniel, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall); Atelier One