The Lotus Emerging from water: Saxony Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is green and energy-saving

2025-08-19    50

The third phase of Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is located east of West Lake and beside the Qiantang River, with a total construction area of approximately 1.5 million square meters. After five years of preparation, design and construction, Terminal 4 of Xiaoshan International Airport was officially put into operation on September 22nd! It will become a benchmark for the construction of "Four-type airports" in Zhejiang Province and the second largest aviation hub in East China, further solidifying Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport's position as one of the core airports in the world-class airport cluster of the Yangtze River Delta. This project adheres to the concept of "energy-saving and efficient green design, healthy and comfortable quality buildings, and passive design that fits the environment", and was awarded the three-star green building design evaluation label at the end of January 2021. The design of Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport draws on the typical imagery of the lotus flowers in West Lake, such as "lotus leaves touching the sky and lotus flowers emerging from water", and combines the creation of this imagery with the optimization of architectural structure design, spatial lighting, ventilation and other performance aspects. This results in the formation of lotus-shaped column skylights and a central lotus valley in the main terminal building, achieving a good ventilation and lighting environment inside. In the hall of Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, 40 lotus leaf columns stand in rows. Walking through them, one feels as if a lotus has emerged from the water. The ceiling of Terminal 4 is a rare large-area irregular double-curved honeycomb aluminum plate ceiling in China, with a rather complex shape and constantly changing curvature. The company has adopted BIM modeling to dynamically achieve a super-large area of high-altitude complex and irregular double-curved honeycomb aluminum plate large ceiling lotus leaf column, perfectly restoring the design concept of "Clear lotus reflecting green", presenting a visual effect of "lotus leaves reaching the sky and lotus flowers emerging from water, though made by humans, seem to be formed by nature". In light of the seasonal characteristics of Hangzhou, during the construction of the project, radiation cooling film is covered on the metal roof, which can reflect solar radiation to cool the interior. The Windows of the terminal building can be automatically controlled to improve comfort by adjusting natural ventilation, enhancing the lighting in over 50% of the main building's interior areas, reducing the building load by more than 10%, and simultaneously increasing the comfort of over 90% of the personnel during the transitional season.