Foster + Partners win Marseille Airport extension design competition

The competition for the new Marseille Provence Airport extension recently revealed Foster + Partners as the winning entry. The firm's project will allow the airport to serve up to 12 million passengers per year (excluding the MP2 terminal). Originally built by Fernand Pouillon in the 1960s, Foster + Partners' new design revitalizes the original layout while also adding a link to the 1992 extension by Richard Rogers and tying the group of buildings together. 

With articulated interfaces between the new and old buildings, the firm's design features a new ‘Coeur’, French for heart, as phase one of the project. Connecting the flow of movement through all parts of the existing buildings, the Coeur creates a more intuitive arrival and departure progression for passengers. This extension is entirely top lit accomplished by a continuous glass skylight grid clad in stainless steel. Located above the existing 1990's building, the new terminal includes an inverted beam roof, large indoor trees, and a panoramic terrace overlooking the airport and its surrounding landscape.  

Grant Brooker, Head of Studio at Foster + Partners, stated, “Marseille airport has grown extensively and incrementally over the last 60 years. Our goal is to design a generous pavilion that reconnects all parts of the existing buildings, simplifying the flow of people between them and creating a new welcoming gateway to the region."

Phase two will add an additional pier with twelve aerobridges. Construction for this phase will predominantly occur offsite with a rapid installment schedule in order to minimize disrupting daily airport operations.