Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi has been crowned the most beautiful airport in the world at the Versailles Prix, an event organized at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The airport walked home with this bragging right after beating over 400 worldwide competitors to clinch this position. One of the historical significance airports in the world, Zayed International Airport is named after the Father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Being constructed in oil rich UAE, the capital’s Midfield Terminal also called Terminal A clinched the title at over 400 other airports in the 2024 Prix Versailles international architecture awards that were staged in Paris on 2 December.
Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox architects, the terminal’s undulating roof – featured in the latest Mission: Impossible film – is specially made to resemble the geographical location of Abu Dhabi’s scenery. It not only has an aesthetic design, but simultaneously creates an area of shade on the building thus minimizing energy use. The X-shaped terminal built at 50 metres high, on the other hand, increases the specific area by using diaphanous space intelligently. There is use of sustainable materials throughout the building so that more saving of energy and water has been achieved. All four terminals of the airport are divided into sea, desert, city and oasis with evidences of design sense and facetious and not so facetious references to the culture of Abu Dhabi.
The airport also features several remarkable of installations; among them is one of the largest artworks in the Middle East. The Sana Al Nour, which is 22-metres high, with glass facades, was designed with elements of Islamic architecture as a bridge between arrivals and departures. It is a massive structure that has a weight of more than 100 tonnes and can significantly filter natural daylight to the lower floors of the airport as well as enable airflow.
New Zayed International Airport is opened in November 2023 on the territory of three hundred seventy-five and half thousand square meters; it has the potential of 45 million passengers per year, but declining to 80 million in accordance with statement of Kohn Pendersen Fox. Originally hosted at Paris – the global headquarters of UNESCO, Prix Versailles’ 2024 awards honored 6 airports of which Zayed International won the 2024 first prize. There were also the titles of the most beautiful interiors and exteriors designs, and three general ‘world selection’ prizes.
The List of World’s Most Beautiful Airports in 2024
- Zayed International Airport, Abu Dhabi, UAE – overall winner
- Felipe Ángeles International Airport, Zumpango, Mexico – special prize for interior
- Changi Airport Terminal 2, Singapore – special prize for exterior
- Suvarnabhumi Airport, Midfield Satellite 1, Bangkok, Thailand – world selection
- Logan International Airport, Terminal E, Boston, US – world selection
- Kansas City International Airport, Kansas City, US – world selection
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The Zayed International Airport – Features
Zayed International Airport has been built with huge wave like roof that extends from one end of the terminal building to the other. The roof of the complex was designed by the famous architectural firm known as Kohn Pedersen Fox; the roof moves through configurations imitating the dunes of the desert. It is not merely an aesthetic feature either. Equally, the roof is quite functional in its design since it provides natural shading over the terminal to cut down on power usage.
But that’s not all! The terminal building is an X shaped marvelous structure that stand at 50 meters high making it freely airy. Measuring an impressive 750000 square meters Zayed International Airport has the current capacity to accommodate 45 million passengers per year. The structure of the layout known as the ‘flow line layout’, is optimized to provide optimal open floor space in addition providing a smooth and efficient movement through the interior.
It is amazing that Zayed International Airport is not only distinguished by multiple-breakthrough architecture. The architects divided the terminal into four piers and imbued them with the typical symbols of the region: Sea, desert, city, and oasis. This thoughtful thematic approach is but one more layer that contributes to the creation of that outstanding atmosphere of the United Arab Emirates from the first moments after arrival at the airport.
Even though Zayed International Airport is a ‘look- admirer’, as much as its aesthetics suggest, it has taken into consideration the issue of sustainability also. Apart from aesthetics, it boasts of being an environmentally friendly airport through utilization of environmentally friendly materials, utilization of solar power as well as natural ventilation. The architects then aimed at decreasing the carbon footprint of the terminal while keeping the spaces as vast and illuminated as possible.
From saving the use of artificial lighting by employing daylight, carrying out energy efficient services, and water efficient services, the airport has embraced an environment friendly approach. Given the fact that environmental conservation is gaining much importance in the current and coming years, Zayed International Airport is developing new airports with a view of establishing travelling facilities that would be environmentally sustainable.
This is the first time the United Arab Emirates is being awarded this Prize and winning the overall Prix Versailles is a feat for the country. Plainly enough, this perfect harmony of futuristic architecture, cultural importance, and sustainability as a modern aviation hub has come as a big boon to the airport as far as the judges are concerned. However, the residents of Sudan were not only competing for the best airport; they went on to create an airport that served as a model for what an airport of the future can be – Zayed International Airport.