The new Clark International Airport Terminal 2 design will highlight Philippine iconic scenes to allow the country’s gateway to blend with the landscape.
The redevelopment of the Clark International Airport, expected to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, is envisioned to have one of Asia’s Best Airports celebrate modern Filipino architecture and design.
Budgi+Royal Architecture and Design firm’s approach to the Clark project is to develop a hub that has a modern design that blends with Filipino setting.
The new terminal building is almost the same size as the Hong Kong International Airport Terminal covering 101,977 square meters for its Phase 1 with an estimated capacity of eight million passengers per annum, reported BluPrint.
The wavy silhouette frontage of the new airport terminal in Pampanga, according to Budgi+Royal, is inspired from the Mt. Arayat in Pampanga, the Sierra Madre – the longest mountain range of the Philippines found in Luzon, and the Mt. Pinatubo terrain in Zambales. The warm tropical tones are designed to make the structure blend with the landscape.
The Clark International Airport terminal building is covered with an undulating roof sitting atop a predominantly metal, lahar concrete, and glass building façade. Cut bamboo has slits of skylights to let in more natural light to the interior.
Inside the airport building, exposed glulam and structural members celebrate the nostalgia of the parol or star lantern, a product that Pampanga is famous for, with a height of 20 meters at its center.
Opposite the ceiling, the flooring will be of locally sourced material, lahar or the volcanic debris from Mt. Pinatubo, fashioned in a terrazzo or marble finish. The understated flooring creates an elegant complement to the grandeur of the roof.
According to BUDJI+ROYAL, the use of lahar is an ode to the Filipinos’ resiliency, rising from the ashes of the June 1991 eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo. The lahar concrete material will also be the “architectural fiber” of the New Clark City and the airport.
The floor to ceiling glass panels allow unobstructed view of the aircrafts with the panoramic Pampanga landscape as backdrop.
Instead of solid concrete walls, the new building’s façade will be made of glass and metal to give a sense of lightness and openness, and expose the expansive views of the mountains and the plains. This feeling of tropicality and permeability is another responsive design that BUDJI+ROYAL aims to incorporate in their projects.
“Apart from the architecture, we want to celebrate the culture of Filipinos—we greet and send off our loved ones. So the planning takes into account the comfort of well-wishers and greeters,” says Budgi Layug in an interview with Inquirer.net.
“The plan reflects the warmth of Filipinos,” says Royal Pineda in the same interview. “This concept was an offshoot of our rehabilitation of Naia 1 in 2011. We are bringing this concept as our main DNA in what makes the Filipino airport distinct. Present your culture beautifully and efficiently so that the world will appreciate it.”
