We designed a mega-size air cargo hub for Jiaxing’s International Airport. As a cargo airport, this cargo hub will generate most of the runway aircraft movement. It will handle a forecasted annual 1.12 million metric tonnes of cargo throughput by 2030 and about 2.45 million metric tonnes by 2045. It is also estimated that about 40-45% of this throughput will be international. Taking advantage of its next-door neighbor Shanghai, which is only 29 minutes HSR train ride away and where Shanghai’s PVG has already overtaken the world’s number three spot in cargo volume ranking in 2019, this cargo hub will relieve PVG and catch some of the region’s huge air cargo traffic. It will develop as a major air cargo hub in its own right, just like the DFW’s neighboring airport Alliance Airport in Dallas.
We designed an integrated, open, and shared structure for the hub. The integration is in the hub’s capability of processing a variety of cargo types including time-sensitive parcels, C2C bulk loads, small packages, large regulars, and special cargo items. The central main cargo building will be operated by the anchor tenant of the hub for air cargo express services. It can be expanded easily as it is planned on a scalable module. We designed one landside satellite building which is connected to the central building. These two buildings are joined together by equipment bridges and will function as one, for transshipment operations like air to air, air to land, international to international, international to domestic, etc.
To either side of the central building, we designed additional but dedicated cargo buildings that will work independently. These can be major airline tenants such as China Southern Cargo, FedEx, DHL, or China Post. Similar to the way it is structured along the hub’s central axis, we designed equipment bridges and other circulation connectors for these cargo halls at the wings to be connected with the central cargo hall.
Another important integration in our design is the support facilities at the center of the complex on the axis. It is connected to all the cargo buildings via circulation bridges or underground connectors, making it easier to serve and interface with them. These support facilities include administration and management for the hub and various operators, hub security, customs offices, employee services, hub cafeteria, MCC facilities, and hub onsite marketing and VIP services.
For the architectural style of the main buildings, we used bright colors, bold volumetric facade elements, weather-protection devices, and striking technological gadgets to render a forward-looking and sustainable air cargo architecture. We used different colors to indicate different zones of the hub and help with the potentially challenging navigation in this mega-size facility. At the central square of the hub, we created a landscape design that is calm, friendly, and serene, using an elongated shallow water pool with fountains and covered arcades. Our goal for the hub is to be both exciting and relaxing. We want to create a dynamic and park-like cargo hub.
