Gates wide open

The concept development for the new construction of the Line Maintenance Hangar (maintenance and repair) at Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) is essentially based on functional and economic requirements.

The building structure is clearly divided into two mainfunctional areas: the hangar, logistics and operational auxiliary areas.

The cubature of the hangar follows the geometry of a wide-body aircraft such as the A380. Directly behind the gates, a roof elevation is designed to accommodate the tail unit. A rolling door is installed in the elevation, which can be opened if necessary. Smaller aircraft can freely enter the hangar. The entrance for the aircraft is optimized by a complete opening possibility of the airside facade. The doors are moved to lateral parking positions next to the hangar for maximum opening for wide-body aircraft. For this purpose, a filigree steel construction will be erected on both sides of the hangar.
Due to the door opening across the entire width of the hall, the load transfer of the roof structure can only be distributed over three sides of the hall. The main supporting structure consists of three steel trussgirders. They span the entire hangar over a length of 85 m and enable a column-free interior.

Picture Credits: PSP Architekten Ingenieure, Hamburg

Lufthansa Maintenance Hangar, Berlin

Location

Airport Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI), Berlin / Germany

Client

Lufthansa Technik AG, Objekt- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg

Size

9.000 m²

Year

2012

The upper part of the facade is inclined outwards, so that the building reflects the radar beams onto the ground. Only industrially manufactured products are used in the selection of the facade materials. The closed parts of the facade are covered with metal sandwich panels. Skylight strips in the walls are made of acrylic glass of the best thermal insulation quality. Thus, in addition to providing light, they can also be used as heat extraction surfaces in the event of a fire. The doors are also made of acrylic glass, thus ensuring translucent, glare-free daylight into the hall. The transparent areas in the lower part of the doors allow staff to maintain eye contact with the runway and the check-in hall.
The logistics area and ancillary areas are docked to the side of the hangar. On the one hand, this favours optional delivery from outside, on the other hand, it results in very short connecting routes from the logistics area to the hangar. This structure will also have a metal facade. It will be subdivided into smaller sections according to its use and the proportions of the hangar. The metal panels are painted in a darker shade of grey than the hangar and have a coarsely corrugated surface. This gives this structure an independence from its large neighbour.

Picture Credits: PSP Architekten Ingenieure, Hamburg