Terminal 3

Innovative construction method for an icon at Frankfurt Airport

In 2022, Arnold was commissioned by Fraport AG to create an extraordinary 3D curved ceiling above the marketplace of the new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport.

The vision of the LAVA architects presented us with special challenges:

• The processing of around 3,000 individually bent and bright anodized aluminium tubes with a total length of over 20,000 meters.
• The construction and erection of a supporting and substructure for secure fastening.
• The construction and installation of three imposing, nine-metre-high design elements (drops), each weighing 4.5 tons, which direct the natural light from above onto the marketplace in a targeted manner

Instead of a traditional approach, in which each tube would have been individually planned in three dimensions, formed, anodized and then transported at great expense, our team opted for an innovative, resource-saving solution with fewer transports, lower CO2 emissions and more efficient project implementation: bending on site.

Parametrically planned - a sensible investment

Particularly for complex construction projects with many variables, we recommend not drawing each component individually in 2D, but instead creating all components digitally in an overall parametric model and linking them together.

Although planning takes a little more time at the beginning, this saves us considerable time and costs as the project progresses. This is because we can see every change, no matter how small, immediately and quickly calculate the effects on all other parameters. In comparison, manual corrections would be very time-consuming and almost impossible to achieve. 
 

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