Schiphol International Airport

After the phone and the car, now buildings are becoming increasingly software driven. Upgrades can be done overnight, connecting the hardware with the passengers, making buildings ‘personal on demand’.

Established in 1916, Schiphol has always been a symbol of belief in the future. Its history showcases a beautiful story of 100 years of innovation through design and technology. In our design process for the re-design of 70.000m2 interior spaces of all International piers and gates, we start by seeing the building as a platform. By connecting the personal scale with the complex processes and machinery of the building, we make designs that are adaptive, specific, understandable, recognizable and welcoming for all.

We see the Schiphol building as an icon of the International Style. We use the quality and DNA of the building to upgrade the experience of the passengers. Unique selling points, such as intimate spaces and panorama views make Schiphol stand out from generic new airports around the globe.

The redesign of the piers & gates interiors is an opportunity for Schiphol as a whole. With the project we transform 70.600m2 of closed-off operational & security process spaces into service spaces, preparing the building as platform for future growth and development.

Schiphol is an architectonic machine that on one hand needs to handle the growing number of travelers (63 mln in 2016) as quickly and efficiently as possible, and on the other hand provide personal, calm and comfortable spaces and services.

The vast re-design strategy is structured according to 5 project principles. The passengers will ultimately experience one space, one airport, one brand where all the services are open and approachable from all sides.

Under the open design the whole building is programmed similar to a computer; services from the different stakeholders are working together and thus perform better and more efficient than stand-alone.

With mixing existing ingredients with newly added materials we are creating the ‘upgrade Schiphol blend’ that comes to life in different materialisations to create a family of new service applications.

The mix plays with open and robust materials, consistency in shape and material choice, a spark of color allowing for softness and a personal scale.