MPL Passenger Terminal

The visual symbolism of the new Wrocław airport is straightforward and easy to decipher: it is a function that has an obvious association with flying – flying with wings and their gentle and highly coordinated movements. This movement is expressed by the shape of thirteen separate wave-like roof sections. The whole structure, moving in two opposite directions, extends beyond the vertical outline of the building, and rises and descends in a somewhat irregular rhythm. In this way it brings character to the building at the same time as providing covered entrance areas and gives a lightness and a beauty to the outside of the building which is lacking in other buildings of this type. This is particularly visible from a distance as the perspective changes, as seen for example from a vehicle travelling from the city and then circling the enormous open area in front of the airport.

Construction

This structure, which in effect is a new airport, is a highly rational building constructed almost exclusively using ninety-degree angles and 15-metre modular sections. The external structure, which is tall, glazed, and crowned by an irregular steel roof, measures about 200 x 80 metres and can be extended at the sides. This simply provides a watertight covering for all the elements required for the functioning of the airport and which are laid out inside the building on several levels. Neither the open public spaces nor the smaller areas that are grouped together reach the roof, which appears to flow over the smaller volumes suspended inside. Its thirteen wave-like sections join in the middle and then separate and in this way create slits that become windows providing additional light for the spaces below. The architects organised the functioning of the building in a linear manner, greeting people arriving from the city with an entrance area that goes right up to the winglike roof sections and extends the entire length of the building, while the last that departing passengers see of the structure is a building on many levels that includes controlled areas inside it. On top, there is a public terrace for friends and family. The most spectacular space in the whole building is the area that greets passengers when they arrive. This is covered by the roof which appears to bend in different directions and is supported on ‘V’ shaped steel pillars, adorned with tall plants and, most importantly, it provides comfortable access to every function that is required to serve departing or arriving passengers.

Ambitions

The new terminal certainly provides a dignified expression for the ambitions of Wrocław, which was one of the four host cities for EURO 2012, the European City of Culture in 2016 and a runner-up for the global EXPO. It has also satisfied the ever-increasing travel requirements of Polish people, as a comfortable airport not just for international and national carriers, but also for the highly popular low-cost airlines. With its excellent connections with Wrocław city centre, it will underline the importance of this city on the European aviation map.