Airbus A380 maintenance facility

Program: four workshops able to be combined into a single huge hangar, a maintenance workshop, spare part stores and offices.
Site: in extension of the north runways, aeronautical constraints limit the height and length.

Planned in an arc, punctuated with patios to address four issues:
– linear extension from one to four hangars into a single unit;
– simultaneous opening of four hangars to accommodate aircraft;
– link between the hangars and support offices; and
– deliberate day lighting of hangars.

The siting of patios is the opportunity to find the right scale by relocating the center of gravity of the hangar towards the offices. The patio allows to add a space that both unites visually yet separates.
The hangar lighting proposal requires it be treated as a tertiary workplace rather than a factory. For this reason, light is captured laterally and not from the roof. The north orientation of the doors enabled them to be designed as translucent. Maintenance being carried out round the clock, this enables the activity of the hangar to be seen from runways at night.