KSIA (Walkway)

A couple days ago I wrote about visiting the New King Shaka International Airport here in Durban. Over all I think it's really great, but there are a few features that stuck out at me a lot.

Linking the main circulation/interactive spaces and the parking areas is a really cool little covered walk way that passed under the road and out to the other side. I love how, in such contrast to the old airport, the whole complex is so considered and comfortable and it just feels really nice to move through.

In the middle of the section below the road is a large skylight which makes the whole tunnel feel really open and light. Above ground it manifests itself as a small glazed box with a small butterfly roof arrangement which mirrors the main parking garage. Its a really cool feature, but the green glass is so trashy. It's all over the airport and really ruins a lot of the buildings. It's such a shame, but I suppose it is Tongaat!

KSIA (Cooling Tower)

My sister flew in from Port Elizabeth yesterday, so I took the opportunity to wonder around the new King Shaka International airport while I was there to pick her up.

I was pretty impressed for the most part. The terminal's pretty ordinary, but to be fair there aren't a whole lot of exciting terminals out their, since the scale doesn't really lend itself to very creative architecture. There are a couple of really interesting little features around it though, and I got quite carried away taking photos (It was really overcast though, so sorry about the picture quality).

To the far left of the main terminal is a small oval plan structure that I really liked. Its almost impossible to find any information about the airport, but from what I could work out its some sort of A.C. plant/cooling tower arrangement with security offices and an airport shuttle stop. The paving and street furniture also looks really great!

Pretty sexy. Drop me a comment if you know any details.