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Barcelona Airport, terminal T1

In June 2009, Barcelona unveiled the new Terminal T1 at Barcelona Airport. With the T1 up and running, Barcelona strengthened its position as a central airport for the Mediterranean and Southern Europe. Designed by the architect Ricardo Bofill, the new terminal occupies an area of 555,000 square meters and is prepared to cater for future rises in passenger and freight traffic. The new terminal will increase the capacity of the airport to 55 million passengers per year and could mean as many as 90 flights per hour.

The proposed architecture of the new T1 stands out for its logistic and technical complexity, for anticipating the circulation of 100,000 passengers per day and approximately 15,000 staff. The result is a complex that is structured around three large elements: a processing building that houses the check-in desks, baggage collection and the open air shopping area, two extensions at the side and one along the width whose purposes are passenger boarding, and a depot where the different transport systems come together. The terminal also takes into account the business centre, VIP areas, a Spa, a large commercial area, banking office, car hire, chapel, car park and other complementary services.

The lighting is a major factor in setting out the project, searching for Mediterranean light indoors, creating bright and comfortable spaces. Troll has participated in the lighting design, managing the appropriate levels of lighting and creating surroundings that are sufficiently warm and inviting by using a proposal of luminaires that fulfil the architectural requirements. For this reason, some zones needed special custom-made products to be designed. Mainly luminaires with induction lamps have been installed. These lamps are especially suitable in large spaces that offer good levels of lighting and drastically reduce maintenance costs and the inconvenience of replacing the lamp (approximate life-span 60,000 hours). Also there have been installed adjustable fluorescent luminaires that allow adapting the intensity of the light depending on the time of day and therefore saving energy.

The building combines the multicultural and international character with the brightness and warm environment of Mediterranean architecture. The new T1 fits in perfectly with its surroundings and the interior design matches functionality and design through wide spaces where natural light is the protagonist in all areas designated for passengers.