Centralny Port Komunikacyjny awards Foster + Partners with game-changing Master Architect contract for new Polish airport.
Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) has completed the most awaited tender related to the construction of Poland’s new CPK airport and signed an agreement with a consortium of Foster + Partners and Buro Happold Limited, whose bid was found to be the most advantageous in the proceedings for the selection of a Master Architect (MA).
The main tasks of the Master Architect for the CPK airport include designing the passenger terminal building, railway station and public transport interchange. Additionally, the consortium led by Foster + Partners will participate in CPK consultations with key stakeholders and potential general contractors.
“CPK is one of the largest infrastructure investments in our part of Europe. Despite its huge scale, we are executing it in compliance with the schedule, reaching milestones one by one. Today we mark one of the most important steps – inauguration of cooperation with the Master Architect, who will have the most spectacular influence on the shape of the new airport. I am confident that it will not only look great, but will provide the best passenger experience, putting them at the heart of the design,” says Minister Marcin Horała, Government Plenipotentiary for CPK.
The value of the contract (including the tasks covered by the option right) is PLN 696 million net (ca. EUR 150 mln). The concept design of key CPK buildings is expected to be ready as early as the middle of 2023, and all other design services will be provided within two and a half years from the contract conclusion date. Foster + Partners’ bid was selected from among the companies shortlisted for the competitive dialogue: the consortia Zaha Hadid Architects and WSP UK Limited; Dar Al-Handasah and Perkins&Will; Vidal y Asociados Estudio de Arquitectura, Weston Williams +Partners LLP, gmp International GmbH as well as Kohn Pedersen Fox.
“We selected the contractor using the competitive dialogue tender procedure. It consisted among other things of the design exercise, thanks to which bidders could present their visions of the CPK project. The real challenge, however, starts now. Together with the world-famous architects we will prepare the ultimate design of the most important part of the new Polish transport system,” says Mikołaj Wild, CEO of CPK company.
One of the main assumptions of the design is expandability and modular construction, enabling the airport to be built and operational by 2028 and ready to serve up to 40 mln passengers and then expand seamlessly to meet the 65 mln passenger target in 2060.
The first design ideas of Foster + Partners include a landside interchange plaza that is animated by lush greenery and flooded with natural light. People congregate in this vibrant space before traveling or welcoming visitors. The plaza connects the hub’s three main modes of transport: air, rail and road.
It acts as the focal point of the scheme and supports the shift towards more efficient and sustainable means of travel. The plaza will also be able to accommodate future emerging technologies. The final design will optimize passenger experience, making the facilities accessible and inclusive. The functional and flexible layout, with minimal level changes will allow for efficient and seamless passenger flows and optimized transfers.
“We are proud and excited to be chosen by CPK as the designers of this project. In collaboration, we will work together to create a model for the future of totally integrated transportation design. We believe that this project will completely revolutionize travel across the country and beyond. The vision of woven architectural form is deliberately and strongly expressed. It could shape the building and guide the passengers through its spaces, while also serving as a powerful symbolic reference to Poland’s rich cultural heritage and the united strength of its people,” says Grant Brooker, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners.
The design will need to respond to the challenges of time, cost and quality. Opportunities for modularization and prefabrication are to be maximized, allowing the transport hub to adapt to ever-evolving operational needs. This creates a resilient and future-proof scheme that will stand the test of time.
Foster + Partners is a global studio for architecture, urbanism and design, rooted in sustainability, which was founded over fifty years ago in 1967 by Norman Foster. Since then, he and the team around him have established an international practice with a worldwide reputation for thoughtful and pioneering design, working as a single studio that is both ethnically and culturally diverse. The studio integrates the skills of architecture with engineering, both structural and environmental, urbanism, interior and industrial design, model and film making, aeronautics and many more – the collegiate working environment of the studio is similar to a compact university. These diverse skills make Foster + Partners capable of tackling a wide range of projects, particularly those of considerable complexity and scale.
CPK is a new transport development program in Poland – a strategic investment that is extremely important for the economic development of the country and the region and, of utmost importance, the security of Europe as a whole. It’s a great infrastructure project on an incredible scale to integrate air, rail, and road transportation quickly and efficiently. The CPK project includes, among others, rail investments: a transport hub at the airport in the center of Poland and a network of new railway lines, mainly high speed, with a total length of nearly 2,000 km. This will make it possible to travel between Warsaw and Poland’s largest cities in no more than 2.5 hours. The first preparatory construction work on the new CPK airport is planned to begin in 2023.