Phnom Pehn’s new Techo airport is a small tropical city

British firm Foster + Partners has unveiled its design for the new Techo International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, whose construction recently began 20 kilometers south of the city center. Inspired by the local vernacular and tropical climate, the design includes a new airport city and terminal building with a grid roof reminiscent of a tree canopy.

The terminal building will include a central headquarters for all passenger processing and retail functions, which will be flanked on either side by two curved hydrofoil-shaped wings for departures and arrivals.

A single lightweight steel roof, consisting of a canopy of pillars organized according to a modular grid, will span the entire structure, eventually expanding outward from the architectural structure into dense vegetation running along the central spine and leading into the interior of the terminal.

The height of the raised roof system will also be contrasted with human-scale design gestures, such as visual permeability at the airport ramps and limited level changes throughout the masterplan.

The airport is currently under construction, and the master plan will be completed in a series of phases. The first phase will accommodate 13 million passengers per year thanks to the terminal head and aerodynamic piers under construction, while future plans call for the addition of an additional aerodynamic wing to increase the airport's capacity to 30 million passengers per year.