Foster + Partners have completed the world’s first space terminal for tourists in New Mexico.
Flying displays by Virgin Galactic space vehicles WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo marked the opening of Spaceport America.
The low-rise building is dug into the landscape beside the El Camino
Real road and is entered through a cleft between the two wings.
Full-height glazing wraps around the end of the building, facing onto the runway beyond.
The spaceport hangar is located in the centre of the building, with
administrative areas to the west and flight training and preparation
areas to the east.
The project was designed in collaboration with New Mexico architects SMPC and project manager URS Corporation.
Operators Virgin Galactic are currently running a test flight programme.
Dezeen originally published visuals of the spaceport back in 2007 – see our earlier story here and see more stories about Virgin Galactic here. For more about Foster + Partners, including their circular campus proposals for Apple, click here.
Photography is by Nigel Young, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s some more information from Foster + Partners:
Dedication ceremony for the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space
A dedication ceremony was held at Spaceport America in New Mexico –
the world’s first commercial space terminal. More than 800 guests
attended the event, which included flying displays of Virgin Galactic’s
WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo vehicles.
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The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, a combined terminal and hangar
facility, will support up to two WhiteKnightTwo and five SpaceShipTwo
vehicles. The 120,000 square-foot building has been designed by Foster +
Partners, working with URS Corporation and New Mexico architects SMPC.
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The Gateway will also house all astronaut preparation and celebration
facilities, a mission control centre and a friends and family area.
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Entrance is via a deep channel cut into the landscape and its
retaining walls form an exhibition space that documents a history of
space exploration alongside the story of the region. With minimal
embodied carbon and few additional energy requirements, the scheme has
been designed to achieve LEED Gold accreditation.
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The low-lying form is dug into the landscape to exploit the thermal
mass, which buffers the building from the extremes of the New Mexico
climate as well as catching the westerly winds for ventilation; and
maximum use is made of daylight via skylights.
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Built using local materials and construction techniques, it aims to be both sustainable and sensitive to its surroundings.
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Sir Richard Branson said:
“Today is another history-making day for Virgin Galactic. We are here
with a group of incredible people who are helping us lead the way in
creating one of the most important new industrial sectors of the 21st
century. We’ve never wavered in our commitment to the monumental task of
pioneering safe, affordable and clean access to space, or to
demonstrate that we mean business at each step along the way.”
