COWI to design another 23,300 sqm at Oslo Airport

The expansion will make room for the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the 276-tonne Airbus A380.

01.02.2017

The non-Schengen area at Gardermoen is to be expanded with a new building, and COWI will be principal contractor for the engineering aspects. This takes COWI into its sixth year of work at Gardermoen.

The expansion of the non-Schengen area at Gardermoen will take place at a time when capacity in the area is already utilised to the limit. So one of the challenges in the assignment is to ensure that the building work is carried out without significant disruption to the existing operation of the facility, passenger flows or working conditions for the staff. The terminal is to be kept fully operational throughout the construction period.

Good cooperation

The recently-selected engineering group, comprising COWI as principal contractor, and Aas Jacobsen and Ing. Per Rasmussen as sub-contractors, is already well-practised in this. They were all previously part of the project design group for Oslo’s Terminal 2, also known as Team_T.

“The cooperation between COWI, Aas Jacobsen and Ing. Per Rasmussen worked really well, and that is one of the reasons why we want to continue. We are an integrated team, and the client does not have to deal with three companies,” says Frode Fjeldstad, tendering and contract manager for COWI.

Will take world’s largest passenger aircraft

While the project is a natural extension of the T2 project, Avinor stipulated that there should be much plainer areas with significantly lower building costs and more standardised solutions.

The non-Schengen part is to be constructed as a new building at the outer end of the former international arm, the Eastern Pier, which will be lengthened by 100 metres. The aircraft stands will also be rebuilt to accommodate larger aircraft. One of the stands to be established will have the capacity for the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.

Strong airport positioning continues

Aviation projects have been a major element of COWI’s portfolio in recent years. New terminal developments at Gardermoen T2 and Flesland T3 have been the biggest, with assignments including a helicopter base at Haakonsvern and the fighter base at Evenes to follow.

“Since work started in 2009, a total of 228 employees from COWI have worked on the T2 project at Gardermoen. By way of comparison, COWI has some 1,100 employees in the whole country. Frode Fjeldstad, tendering and contract manager for COWI on the non-Schengen project, has had his own office at Gardermoen since the T2 project started,” according to a press release.

Fjeldstad explains that they have kept the offices they had from T2 for the non-Schengen project.

“But the scale will be more modest than before. OSL wants the whole project design group to sit together, and this is also a practical necessity when we are working against a large shared BIM model,” says Fjeldstad.

Massive Danish expansion

In January, COWI also received confirmation that it is to design the extension to Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, which will extend over 22,000 sqm on three floors. The airport expects to see an increase in passenger numbers from 26 million today to 40 million in the next 20-25 years.