Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 2 (T2) Arrivals Hall redevelopment is an important milestone in delivering an improved arrivals experience for inbound international passengers, whilst also catering for future growth in passenger numbers.
This significant project includes the expansion of the building footprint at Arrivals (ground) level, enhanced connectivity between T2 and the Domestic terminals via new vertical transportation and a new central exit point for arriving passengers from Customs and Baggage Reclaim.
An increased level of service contributes to the overall passenger journey with improved amenities and retail facilities. The development also provides additional capacity for people waiting to greet their loved ones, including much more seating and space.
A key design feature is the new expanded modern façade, which unifies the front door to the Airport providing new entrance portals to both T2 and T3. This design solution provides the redeveloped Arrivals Hall with increased natural light into the expanded floor plate.
Delivering the redevelopment in an operational airport environment and dealing with the ever-changing conditions of a global pandemic, AECOM worked closely with the consultant team, our client and the contractor to deliver the project through detailed staged works limiting impact on operations. By being agile and adapting to new ways of working, AECOM supported the continued delivery of works on site for Melbourne Airport.
Key Challenges
A key challenge of the project was the expansion of the hall into the forecourt area, requiring the accommodation of the existing elevated roadway structure into the redeveloped building envelope. AECOM undertook significant analysis of the existing roadway structure to determine the opportunity to support additional loads from the 50-year old structure. As a result, the requirement to provide an additional layer of structure beneath the existing road structure was removed. This maximised the ceiling height to the Arrivals Hall, increasing natural light penetration.
AECOM’s approach to digital delivery further mitigated project risks in this area by undertaking increased modelling and coordination of both existing and new in-ceiling services in the early design phases to validate the ceiling design concepts and spatial planning.
This approach extended to addressing the significant existing in-ground service constraints on the project with our team drawing on our detailed understanding of Melbourne Airport and its infrastructure. This enabled us to avoid the relocation of critical incoming services without comprising project outcomes, increasing value and reducing risks for APAM.
Our multi-discipline delivery team worked closely with the APAM stakeholder groups to develop a holistic design response that considered whole-of-life and operational requirements, minimised impacts to the daily operation of the Airport and passenger movements as well as providing future-proofed outcomes considerate of the Airport’s Masterplan for further expansion.