Development Phase

Realising the 'impossible'

Realising the ‘impossible’

Architect Foster & Partners, engineer Arup and planner NACO, each confessed that, given the timeframe for Beijing’s new Terminal 3, they thought the task was “impossible”. Yet, a mere four years later, one of the world’s biggest and grandest airport terminals is successfully operational; an example of how fellow airport developments can excel at no sacrifice to speed or style. Michelle Meineke reports.