Wellington International is 50 years old

[flyjoe180]

Nice photos Sam. Despite the 'grainy' setting they came out really well I think.

[Peter Lewis]

I can confirm that the skeletal Be2 is on the first floor (departure) check-in area of the domestic terminal, southern end.





I suspect that this is the third one, as the Be2 I saw under assembly at Hood seems to be more complete and is therefore presumably ZK-TVA



Once you have admire this artifact, walk through to the departure shopping area, turn right walk along the rear wall until you come to the escalators that take you up to the third floor conference and Qantas domestic lounge complex. In the foyer of this third floor area is a glass case containing a nice model of Short Sunderland III ZK-AMK and on the wall above this model is a framed tribute to Brian Layne, one of the Sunderland transport pilots. Well worth a look and not many people know that it is there.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Growth spurt in Wellington Airport's pumpkin patch

The Dominion Post | 8:22AM - Tuesday, 06 July 2010


PLANE SAILING: Work on Wellington Airport's new international terminal is due to be finished by September.
— ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post.

The new pumpkin-shaped $39 million international terminal at Wellington Airport has blossomed.

With its copper cladding gleaming in the sun, it is looking more bionic than organic, although the metal sheathing is expected to take on a softer patina as it weathers.

When the capital's airport company unveiled its plans, it said the terminal was shaped to look like Wellington's south coast rocks.

"It's going to look great," airport spokeswoman Kat Lintott said.

It was now weatherproof so work could start fitting out the interior of what would be the new international arrivals and departures terminal, she said.

The inside is expected to be just as distinctive as the outside, with a high, glass roof and fissures in the ceiling designed to give passengers a sense of space.

The terminal is on schedule to be completed in September.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3887231/Growth-spurt-in-Wellington-Airports-pumpkin-patch

[Dave Homewood]

I hate the building, but I love the way they have mounted the Beech 1900 on a pole beside it. ;D

[baz62]

Jul 6, 2010 22:46:57 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

I hate the building, but I love the way they have mounted the Beech 1900 on a pole beside it. ;D

Damn it Dave you beat me too it! ;D

[beagle]

they must have beefed up the back end a bit as CofG would be out a bit

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Airport's new terminal smashes pumpkin reputation

A look inside Wellington's new terminal

By MICHAEL FOX - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Wednesday, 27 October 2010



WELLINGTON AIRPORT says it has received positive feedback from the first members of the public to see inside its controversial international terminal.

Dubbed "The Rock" and likened to a pair of pumpkins because of its shape and copper plating, the new terminal is the final stage of a $60 million development that began in 2006. It will be opened today by Prime Minister John Key.

Wellington International Airport chief executive Steve Fitzgerald said the "edgy" new building allowed the airport to process 1000 international passengers an hour instead of the current 500. Airport traffic was expected to double by 2030.

"It prepares us exceptionally well for the [Rugby] World Cup and then the passenger growth that we expect through the next 20 years."

Though the building was criticised by architects when plans were first unveiled, feedback had so far been positive, he said.



The first passengers who went through yesterday had congregated in The Rock, which was "a great first impression". "People are obviously attracted to the feel of the new bits."

Architect Nick Barratt-Boyes, of Wellington's Studio Pacific Architecture, which designed The Rock, said the terminal was modelled on Wellington's rugged south coast. The 1600 square metres of copper on the building's exterior would be left to oxidise and turn blue-green as it weathered in the salty air.

Mr Barratt-Boyes said macrocarpa panelling and glass fissures on the interior provided a nice light. Windows allowed selective views of aircraft on the tarmac and the terminal's "sequence of spaces" allowed passengers to explore the area and people-watch.

The architects were pleasantly surprised by reaction to the terminal.

"We've always known that it's going to be wonderful. It's just you can't really keep saying that until people walk in themselves and look around and go, ‘It's great’."









With the airport described by Mr Fitzgerald as having the most intense land use of any airport in the world, engineers and architects outlined the difficulty in constructing the new terminal — which ties together three existing buildings — causing as little disruption to airport operations as possible.

Project manager Garth Palmer of Impact Project Management said building the new terminal set a new benchmark for challenging projects.

"The Rock was arguably one of New Zealand's most complex and challenging construction projects to oversee."

Mike Kerr, regional manager of engineering firm Beca, said the easiest structure to engineer was a simple box.

"By contrast, The Rock's design is about as far from a straight-sided cube as it is possible to get."

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4275008/Airports-new-terminal-smashes-pumpkin-reputation

[pjw4118]

Great ohotos. it looks like the set from BattleTruck. My flights from Timaru into Wellington are ALWAYS entertaining especially as the door/curtain is open and the runway view goes from 8 o'clock to 3 o'clock or even further.Great!!
So Auckland has had several upgrades and now Wellington but why has Christchurch been a tip for so long? Shoddy checkins, sub artic walkways, did they employ Dads Army ( with apologies to those boys). Is it finished yet??
Even Honiara's upgrade on Guadacanal didn't last so long.
So much for the bleet, on the forum trip to Hobsonville we were told about the landing of the Wellington runway hit Sunderland that was posted long ago. It seems that it sucked up a lot of water on landing and it was touch and go to get the very bouyant landing gear in place before the plane sank. That would have been a black for all concerned. As the bilge pumps couldn't cope a bright spark delated the tyres.
True?

[Dave Homewood]

Congratulation Wellington, you have the world's ugliest terminal building, and have outdone even the Beehive for the capital's ugliest building. I thought we got past these mindless, pointless over-expensive building designs in the 1980's but Wellington must be well behind the times.

[Bruce]

That roofline is terrible - I'd sack any builder who put the tin on that rough! Radical architecture is a good thing, but there is a fine line between Stunning and ugly, and this one is well over that line!

[oggie2620]

Will they buy it a birthday card, cake and give it a bus pass like the BBMF Lanc got when it got to retirement age! They did the same for their oldest Spit when that turned 70 too... Jokers all of them!

[pjw4118]

Looking at the building again , maybe its meant to be like that so after Wellingtons next big earthquake nobody will notice any difference.