BetaPort Tyrol by BART//BRATKE the world’s first all timber airport

As part of the planning proposal for Tyrol’s new intermodal air mobility terminal, Urban Beta (www.urban-beta.de) collaborates with BART//BRATKE and graadwies to create a benchmark project envisioning highly flexible travel infrastructure for the post Covid-19 era. The airport is designed as an intermodal mobility hub using the BetaPort system, designed by Urban Beta and engineered by str.ucture.

The adaptive building system is designated to become more than an exclusive air travel infrastructure: The inclusive design creates a 24/7 marketplace that combines multiple communal, recreational, retail and travel functions under one roof. Under the motto “New mobility needs innovative planning”, the team creates a modular system that can grow over time and adapt to changing use scenarios in the future. The building is conceived as a green and vivid space of cultural exchange between visitors, travellers, tourists, locals and enthusiasts alike.

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Mobility hubs reinvented as communal marketplaces
Today’s urban infrastructure needs flexible spaces more than ever. BetaPort is a modular mobility hub that creates efficient and high-quality social spaces for future mobility. One of the main design features of the airport is a central public promenade that extends throughout the whole building and connects landside and airside in one continuous plaza. This social marketplace is brought to life by a vital mix of public functions.

While reinventing classical air mobility typologies, Tyrol’s new mobility hub creates a place that activates the local surroundings and integrates urban life deeply into its travel and mobility infrastructure. Through the integration of new multi-modal mobility models the connection to and from the airport is simplified, making the new terminal a hub for switching from shared infrastructures like local bus networks, e-scooters, bikes and urban air mobility to mid- and long-range travel via airplane.

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Ready for the Next Normal
The design reacts to changing travel capacities with a complete adaptable architectural system based on Urban Beta’s academic and professional research in space-on-demand solutions. Through a voxel-based spatial strategy, areas can be activated when needed and gates can be extended via switchable swing gates. Schengen and Non-Schengen areas can be adjusted to varying passenger expectations throughout the year and whole areas can be increased horizontally and vertically.

The design is completely built on prefabricated timber units that allow for a high degree of freedom and technical installation. Healthy environments with renewable material strategies The world’s first all timber airport is a reference to traditional vernacular Tyrolean building techniques, showcasing the newest timber technology which allows a healthy travel environment. The airport’s structure, load-bearing elements, floors, dividing walls and circulation throughout are solely constructed out of timber.

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Healthy environments with renewable material strategies
These technologies open up new opportunities in architecture, leading us to believe that automation in wooden construction is the future of the building industry that lets us depart from the dependency on concrete as the sole construction material. Relying on high performance timber products like CLT or LVL in construction allows for the significant reduction of the carbon footprint of buildings, while providing biophile experiences for visitors and travellers alike.

The mobility hub as a kit of parts for universal application
Using this AI powered process guarantees efficient planning and eliminates planning errors. In a digital workflow, the building blocks are prefabricated in a factory setting, using large CNC-machines before being transported to the site for quick assembly.” The BetaPort’s building is based on a voxel grid structure, defined by its main structural “+”-shaped elements that take the function of load bearing and technical installation as well as heating and ventilation. The modularity allows for universal application of the airport system. Source by BART//BRATKE.

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