Auckland airport heads for new heights

From the arrival of the Tainui Waka into the Manukau Harbour, Auckland Airport has always been a place of journeys. The airport stands proudly as the gateway to Aotearoa New Zealand, welcoming travellers beginning their journeys, farewelling Kiwis to new destinations, connecting businesses and workers to new opportunities, and celebrating the partners and investors who back it along the way.

From its small beginnings in 1966, Auckland Airport has grown into one of the largest international airports in Australasia. More than three-quarters of international visitors to New Zealand touch down in Auckland Airport, with 21M passengers a year arriving before the outbreak of COVID-19.

The terminal integration programme – a significant part of the airport’s wider 10-year-capital programme – will bring domestic and international travel together under the same roof for the first time since 1977, via an expansion at the eastern end of the existing international terminal building.

The integration programme is also an important enabler in allowing Auckland Airport to carry out key upgrades to the airfield to ensure the airport remains resilient. Set to open between 2028 and 2029, the combined terminal will serve the larger and more efficient domestic jet aircraft flying to and from Auckland to New Zealand’s other main centres, alongside international operations.

At Auckland airport we are starting a new chapter of infrastructure investment that is all about building a better future for travellers from the moment they step foot on our precinct.

Carrie Hurihanganui

Auckland Airport

Since 2017, Mott MacDonald has led terminal and airfield planning, passenger simulation and traffic modelling, and architectural and engineering design for some of the main projects within the overall programme. These include the new domestic terminal, which alone is one of the largest infrastructure projects in New Zealand.

Carrie Hurihanganui, chief executive of Auckland Airport, says of the programme: “At Auckland Airport we are starting a new chapter of infrastructure investment that is all about building a better future for travellers from the moment they step foot on our precinct.”

Smoother passenger journeys

A new domestic terminal and international arrivals facility that are part of a single terminal, combined with better transport links, will improve the passenger experience.

More than 70% of international air travellers to New Zealand pass through Auckland Airport, and a key feature of airport’s vision is the integration of its international and domestic terminals. At present, passengers taking an onward flight must transfer between the terminals by bus or a 10-minute walk.

Combining the two into one terminal involves building a new 80,000m² domestic terminal integrated into the present international terminal. That work is now underway.

In addition, a new ground transport hub with improved pedestrian, transport links and car parking to provide a smooth connection into the integrated terminal, while also paving the way for any future mass transit connections to the airport, will be completed in 2024.

These developments will make passenger journeys through the airport, from border controls to baggage reclaim, faster and smoother. With our partners Jasmax, Grimshaw and Holmes Consulting, we developed the detailed design for the new domestic terminal.

We are responsible for the overall airport planning and design leadership, as well as all engineering including building services, information and communications, structural and fire engineering in partnership with Holmes Consulting, as well as civils for landside and airfield works. Jasmax and Grimshaw are providing architectural services. The consortium partners’ experience covers more than 1,000 aviation projects in 120 countries across 260 airports.

The new domestic passenger terminal

Featuring large, light-filled spaces with views across Manukau Harbour, the new domestic terminal will be three times the size of the existing domestic terminal. It will include a new pier, apron and airside dwell, food and beverage and retail spaces, and shared check-in kiosks that cater for international as well as domestic travellers.

The 240m x 30m pier is steel framed, with engineered timber components for the floor and roofs. This makes for a lightweight and efficient structure with joints that allow the transfer of bending moment forces between columns and beams.

Enabling works for the domestic terminal started in early 2022 including the demolition and relocation of the legacy eastern baggage hall, livestock holding area and waste disposal facilities, and moving the operations control and emergency operations centres, as well as key utilities – all without disrupting flight and passenger operations.

This facility is expected to be open for travellers in 2028-29. It will initially accommodate jet operations flying to major destinations, with regional services continuing to operate from the existing domestic terminal, with Auckland Airport currently consulting with major airlines and the Board of Airline Representatives (BARNZ) on the future location for regional travel.

Excellence through digital integration

On the massive Auckland Airport transformation programme, digital technology is enabling a highly collaborative working environment.

From our inhouse Moata suite of digital solutions to 3D BIM modelling applications and collaboration software, our work on Auckland Airport has embraced digital technology from the outset. More than 20 digital tools are being used across the project by different disciplines to enable a collaborative design process.

We used the modelling software CAST Terminal to define area requirements and layout configurations for the eventual integrated terminal building. Our inhouse STEPS microsimulation tool enabled us to simulate pedestrian dynamics under both normal and emergency conditions. This software evaluates building designs and operational processes in a robust and scientific manner. For this project uniquely, we combined STEPS and CAST to calculate facility requirements for a terminal building.

We also carried out a detailed assessment of stand demand using the simulation tool AirTOP. Our 3D airfield simulation will enable operators to assess the impact of aircraft procedures and aircraft flows once the new domestic pier begins operations.

Early on we decided to hold workshops and use virtual reality to help stakeholders visualise the project’s sense of space.

Juan Balza

Project director, Mott MacDonald

For the lighting design, we calculated point-by-point illuminance in 3D BIM models, using CAD and visual programming language software to analyse daylight, sunlight and shade. Meanwhile our HVAC designers input 3D geometry and information on envelope, internal gains and location into specialist software that calculates system loads, to optimise the overall design and determine equipment sizing.

Our 3D models and visualisations have proved crucial in communicating our proposed solutions. “Early on we decided to hold workshops and use virtual reality to help stakeholders visualise the project’s sense of space” explains our project director, Juan Balza. “VR enables them to interrogate the model and give feedback. Five years ago, in 2D, this wasn’t possible, but now we want them to experience what is proposed and pass any comment.”

Seamless global collaboration

Digital technology enables us to combine our local and global expertise and seamlessly collaborate with our consortium partners, contractors and the client. This global, multidisciplinary project delivery – from early design through to construction – relies on a digital infrastructure of BIM models, CAD tools and a cloud based common data environment.

Architects, structural engineers, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers, designers and contractors work as a unified team, using an integrated design approach unlimited by location or time zone. Mott MacDonald colleagues from offices in eight countries have contributed. “The project has very much been a case of ‘One Mott MacDonald’,” says Juan.

The core project team is formed of colleagues in New Zealand supported by those from Australia, Hong Kong, the US and our global design service based in India, with our UK and Spanish aviation teams providing peer review for aspects of aviation planning and our Singapore team involved in Changi airport sharing its building services knowledge. “Having such a multicultural team is part of its success,” adds Juan.

Everyone has access to the model, understands the processes, can flag clashes, send direct messages, and see what others are doing in real time. It’s about utilising time and our vast array of talent.

Juan Balza

Project director, Mott MacDonald

The integrated digital design system is critical in making this work smoothly, he explains. “We have team members in different offices and design reviews done by different teams. Everyone has access to the model, understands the processes, can flag clashes, send direct messages, and see what others are doing in real time. It’s about effective time utilisation and our vast array of talent.”

Electrical engineer Natalia Bulyutina, who is working on the lighting design for the domestic terminal, welcomes the benefits of a digitally run project that enables collaboration across our global team.

“The lighting design is fully digital, and everyone is using the Revit model. So the digital team perform daylight and glare analysis in Grasshopper parametric design software [an algorithm-based method that merges design intent with design outcome], while the architects designing the size and configuration of skylights and the mechanical team working on the energy modelling use the IES virtual environment suite of building performance analysis applications.” This means the overall system, as well as service routes and maintenance access, can be designed in parallel.

Natalia is working closely with colleagues at our global design service (GDS) in India. “GDS is doing the modelling and drafting and is effectively working while the team in New Zealand is sleeping,” she says.

To smooth communication on the design between the Auckland team and GDS, Natalia introduced a colour coding system. “We’re designing room by room and space by space, so to easily identify issues raised in the open access model queries are coloured. It means I can see immediately what needs reviewing when I come into the office in the morning, and vice versa. It’s effectively a 24-hour operation.”

Sustainable from the start

The sustainability strategy for the project covers energy and carbon, materials and waste, and culture and heritage. Applied right from the preliminary design phase, it continues to inform subsequent phases to support delivery of the agreed objectives.

Green Star is the Green Building Council of Australia’s internationally recognised rating system setting the standard for healthy, resilient, positive buildings and places. Although Auckland Airport is not pursuing formal accreditation on the project, it is targeting design and construction outcomes equivalent to five-star rating under Green Star (see panel ‘Environmental outcomes and targets’).

The carbon data and values held in the portal ensure we know the savings every time we make a design change.

Summer Xia

mechanical engineer, Mott MacDonald

Since early 2022, we have been using our inhouse Moata Carbon portal to spot and tackle carbon hotspots, identifying ways for Auckland Airport to meet its carbon targets. “The portal integrates with project processes, such as BIM, and the carbon data and values held in the portal ensure we know the savings every time we make a design change,” says mechanical engineer Summer Xia, who is working on the HVAC design for the domestic hub.

Measures included in the preliminary design to reduce carbon include making the facilities 100% electric, installing charging points for airfield vehicles, and using more sustainable materials such as timber for the new domestic pier and engineered timber purlins for the headhouse building that contains the passenger areas.

As the design moves forward, the focus for carbon savings is primarily on the structure and groundworks, which account for about 75% of the total embodied carbon of the domestic hub. Ongoing design optimisation is targeting reductions in steel and concrete while maximising the use of timber.

Environmental outcomes and targets

Airport owner Auckland Airport has set essential outcomes for the project which are equivalent to a five-star rating under the Green Star rating system.

Energy

• 40% reduction in operational carbon compared with agreed baseline (preliminary design for new domestic facility)

Waste

• 90% construction and 80% demolition waste diversion from landfill

• 20% reduction in operational waste compared with agreed benchmark

• Zero single use plastics in construction

Materials

• 20% reduction in embodied carbon compared with agreed benchmark