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Central Terminal Building at OR Tambo
Johannesburg, Gauteng

OSMOND LANGE ARCHITECTS and PLANNERS: Architect

Date:2009
Type:Airport
Status:Extant

 


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Coordinates:
26°08"01.90" S 28°13'54.41" E Alt: 1702m

OSMOND LANGE were the lead architects, in association with BENTEL ASSOCIATES and two emergent BEE practices, SHABANGU ARCHITECTS and SIYAKHA.

OSMOND LANGE was commissioned in 2004 by the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to design and deliver the Central Terminal Building (CTB) at OR Tambo International in Johannesburg in a space of less than five years. Lead Architect on the CTB project was Paul WHITEHEAD. The CTB was designed to connect the international and domestic terminal buildings into a single coherent building and enhance passenger capacity by a further five million passengers. The brief was to provide additional capacity and a distinctly African entry experience into the country.

Prior to the construction of the CTB, OR Tambo International catered for 12 million passengers a year, however, CTB has increased the airport’s capacity by a further 30%, bringing it to some 18m passengers a year.

At 122 000m2, the CTB doubled the footprint of the airport. Tasked with a brief to ‘provide additional capacity and a distinctly African entry experience into the country’, Osmond Lange successfully delivered a world-class facility that provides the traveller with a remarkable experience.

The challenge to delivering a seamless building stemmed from the need to integrate Terminal A, which was constructed in the 1960s with Terminal B, which was constructed in the 1980s. Both the terminals were built on different levels.

The CTB now provides a cohesive identity to the airport so that the experience of using it is memorable. The design principle was driven by the aviation functionality. The large oval central atrium of the CTB was designed to operate as a mid-way landmark for easy orientation and as a central circulation system joining the two existing terminals.

The CTB consists of a roof level with an air-conditioning plant, offices on level Four, Departures on level Three, a retail facility on the mid-level, Arrivals on the Mezzanine floor and two Basement levels containing services and baggage sorting.

The design was constrained by ACSA’s pallet of materials, which had to withstand the rigorous pressures associated with an airport. While the building colours chosen were neutral and natural in appearance, the materials used had to be strong, good quality and hardwearing. Simple bold concepts incorporating natural materials and lots of light were used to achieve a calming atmosphere.

Final handover of the R2,4bn CTB project took place in November 2009 just six months ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The main contractor was WBHO Ltd.

[William MARTINSON March 2010]

All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.