{"id":50880,"date":"2026-02-11T09:43:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/projects\/reviving-a-historic-landmark-in-abu-dhabi-3\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:40:17","slug":"reviving-a-historic-landmark-in-abu-dhabi-3","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/projects\/reviving-a-historic-landmark-in-abu-dhabi-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviving a\u00a0historic\u00a0landmark\u00a0in Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"aecom-custom-block block-intro-text\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 40px\">\n    <p class=\"editor-emphasized\">\n        Zayed International Airport is an award-winning airport that has enhanced the travel offering in one of the Middle East\u2019s busiest cities. Designed to handle up to 45 million passengers a year, the airport has a built-up area of 742,000 m2, processes 11,000 passengers per hour and operates 79 aircrafts at any given time. Adding this state-of-the-art facility to Abu Dhabi\u2019s rapidly evolving transportation infrastructure offering has strengthened the UAE\u2019s position as a destination of choice and a global hub for trade and business.     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Design achievements<\/strong>\u00a0\u202f<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Influenced by\u00a0Abu Dhabi\u2019s natural landscape and Islamic geometric motifs, the\u00a0airport\u00a0was designed to be customer-centric and efficient, considering the surrounding context of the Emirates. At the heart of the design is an X-shape that aids the airport\u2019s efficiency and passenger flow. Sitting above road level, the\u00a0building\u2019s\u00a052m\u00a0tall fa\u00e7ade and its departure hall endow the building with an open, outdoor quality enabling the extension to 49 gatehouses. The use of high-performance glass and a sloping canopy structure helps reduce glare and integrates seamlessly with the country\u2019s dune landscape,\u00a0utilizing\u00a0natural light effectively.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Innovative technologies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Equipped with the latest technologies, the airport boasts a range of interconnected biometric systems that invites passengers to enjoy the security,\u00a0speed\u00a0and comfort of a seamless, digitized journey from pre-travel to boarding gate,\u00a0facilitated\u00a0by self-service kiosks and streamlined security checkpoints.\u00a0This year,\u00a0Zayed International Airport will be the only airport in the world to have nine biometric touchpoints\u00a0in\u00a0a passenger journey.\u00a0The\u00a0multi-biometric entry\/exit system\u00a0has enhanced the passenger experience by decreasing processing times at the airport by 70%, meaning less time in queues and more time for travellers to enjoy the airport\u2019s retail,\u00a0leisure\u00a0and F&amp;B facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Our social and environmental focus<\/strong>\u202f<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sustainability is a key pillar in\u00a0Zayed International Airport\u2019s design and operation. The\u00a0airport\u00a0has been designed to minimize its impact on the environment, making use of innovative and\u00a0cutting-edge\u00a0design elements.\u00a0The airport\u00a0is estimated to save 5,300\u00a0tonnes\u00a0of carbon emissions per year, which\u00a0equates to\u00a0emissions from 1,060 vehicles (average family usage) for 12 months.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>The new\u00a0airport\u00a0is Green Building Certified under the PBRS, with 3 Pearls at design stage\u00a0and 3 Pearls for construction stage. Key initiatives needed to achieve the rating included more than 70% of plants used at the\u00a0airport\u00a0are native and adaptive species that are both drought and saline resistant and water efficient fixtures and fittings were installed, resulting in a 45% improvement over the\u00a0Estidama\u00a0benchmark figures.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>During its construction phase, more than 90% of the steel used was\u00a0recycled\u00a0and 82% of the timber used was certified and sourced from legal and sustainable sources. In addition, a\u00a0remarkable\u00a07,540 solar panel parking shades were installed on the long-term car park. Performing a dual purpose, the panels worked to their primary use of creating renewable energy and reducing carbon\u00a0emissions, but\u00a0also created shade within the carpark.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>In November 2024, the airport was announced as the Transport Project of the Year at the MEED\u00a0Best\u00a0Projects Awards. It was also\u00a0crowned\u00a0\u2018World\u2019s\u00a0Most Beautiful Airport\u2019 by Prix Versailles, World Architecture and Design Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1034,"featured_media":50879,"template":"","tags":[],"city":[],"class_list":["post-50880","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/50880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/50880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50881,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/50880\/revisions\/50881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50880"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=50880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}