Terminal 4, Barajas Airport,
Madrid, Spain

Designed to reveal the iconic architecture and to support the intuitive wayfinding that the architectural planning provides, our lighting design creates a calm experience for passengers.
Client
Barajas International Airport
Year
2006
Architect
RSHP
Co-architect
Estudio Lamela
Daylight Design
Arup
Photographer
RSHP
 
Project Team
Jonathan Speirs

One of the world’s largest airports and winner of the Stirling Prize for Architecture by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Barajas is a vast structure with all the complexities of a contemporary transport hub.


The sheer scale of the building demanded that lighting components be kept to a minimum for reasons of manageability, maintenance and budget. The brief also required us to minimise visual clutter and avoid the use of floor fixtures that would restrict the future flexibility of the building.

“
The overall result is stunning and gave us our first IALD Radiance Award – widely recognized as the ‘best of the best’ award within the field of architectural lighting design.”

Our solution to these constraints was ingenious and simple. We devised a unique suspended mirror reflector system that allowed us to both illuminate the floor plane, and to provide a rhythmical glow to the roofs dynamic, undulating form.



For the lower areas, a special wide circular ceiling luminaire known as ‘the wok’ was developed, drawing the eye away from the concrete soffit and services above, negating the need for a suspended ceiling and resulting in significant financial savings.