Airport Redesign: Haluoleo International Airport, Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

UNPAR

Project idea

Serving as an "entryway" to the Southeast Sulawesi air route, Haluoleo Airport is the first establishment where many people from various places across the globe cross paths, having the potential to introduce and preserve local culture through the airport design. Therefore, it must reflect the local culture as a way to welcome individuals, leaving them with a memory of the place. Governor of Southeast Sulawesi, H. Ali Mazi, S.H. has three major aspirations for the province, namely: being able to compete with other regions, making something significant to attract investors and foreign tourists, as well as making the province one of Indonesia's extraordinary tourism destinations. One way to redesign the airport is to create a differing experience through a unique space in order to make it stand out against existing local airports. Through this design, the Wakatobi sea is taken as the main theme of the airport, such that it is presented inside a Southeast Sulawesi traditional house-form airport, in the form of a tunneled aquarium.

Project description

Design Concept
The design concept of this airport is a symbiosis of modern and local elements. It is here that the shape of the Laika Aha traditional house is abstracted into a more modern mass form but still retains its traditional look.

The airport’s main theme of the Wakatobi sea is seen through its interiors, being applied in the form of an aquarium, the ceiling design and also the floor patterns. The experience is made to leave a lasting memory of the Wakatobi sea for passengers entering the airport from the departure and/or arrival zones.

Since the pineapple is Southeast Sulawesi’s symbol of peace and prosperity, it is instilled in the minds of the locals. This abstraction of the pineapple skin’s shape is used on drop-off canopies, jet bridges and on the glass frame façade, elevating the philosophy of “Peace be with you when you leave and arrive at the Airport”.

Building Form
1. The building mass is divided into two main zones by a massive two-level-connected-tunneled aquarium. On the ground level, it divides the departure and arrivals zones. As for the second level, it becomes part of the waiting area for a pre-departure experience, since it is located at the center of the building.

2. The building uses the basic typology (column shape, building form and roof) of Southeast Sulawesi’s traditional house called the Laika Aha, which means a big house that was known to be the house of King Haluoleo back then.

3. The building goes into transformation to give itself an identifier of the airside and landside. The landside has two additional masses, each showing the departure and arrivals zone. Whereas the airside has four additional masses, each belonging to one jet bridge.

4. The mass of the building is then added with a tiered roof that highlights the entrance and exit of the terminal's landside. Each triangular prism mass is also given a tiered shed roof, taking the uniqueness of Laika Aha. Furthermore, airport expansion can be done to the East and West by adding one modular form of boarding gate on each side.

Technical information

The airport's wide-span structure uses 2D truss, forming the open-gable roof borrowed from the traditional house of Laika Aha. The roof covers a modular grid of 20 by 25 meters which benefits the airport during expansion. Every addition of 2 modular grids on one side allows the airport to have one additional boarding gate and an air bridge. The shape of the supporting column takes the shape of a dodecagon. It resembles the column found on the traditional house, designed with LED vertical lights, showing the modernity and future-oriented design but still keeping the local form in mind.

Meanwhile, the huge aquarium tank at the middle of the airport is supported by raft concrete foundation with piles. The tank is made from 40 cm thick acrylic with transparent 20 cm thick acrylic tunnels cutting through the huge tank. The tunnel became part of the passenger's experience entering the airport upon arrivals and also while boarding, creating a lasting memory of the place and promoting Southeast Sulawesi's priority destination, the Wakatobi sea.

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