Engineering Vietnam’s largest modern international airport

Conceived by Heerim Architects, the terminal building takes the form of a blooming lotus flower, boasting an impressive total GFA of 373,000m². Arup is the structural engineering and civil engineering consultancy for the detailed design stage of the terminal building. 

Drawing upon our expertise in previous aviation projects across the region, we conducted a design study to ensure the project’s sustainability, with a focus on passenger experience and resilience to climate change. The structural design presented numerous challenges, including geometric manipulation, rationalisation, complex geometry, iterative design, and a tight schedule. To overcome these challenges, our structural team used digital tools such as Rhino Grasshopper to facilitate the structure modelling in the GSA software so that the analysis model could be updated quickly to match the tight schedule while handling the intricacies of the complex roof geometry. 

Our thorough assessment of the airport planning parameters provided valuable insights to the client, allowing for future-proofing of the infrastructure and optimising its usage. When finished, Long Thanh International Airport will provide convenient travel options to travelers across Southeast Asia and beyond. In the initial phase, the terminal is expected to handle 25 million passengers annually, with a seamless scalability potential to accommodate more than 100 million passengers per year upon its full completion.