Narita International Airport – Terminal 2 Building
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Narita International Airport – Terminal 2 Building
Narita International Airport (NRT) is an international airport located in the Sanrizuka area, southeast of Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, and is one of the major sky gateways to Japan (a hub airport).
Terminal 2 began service on December 6th, 1992, and was one of the largest-scale independent terminal buildings in the world at the time.
A walkway connecting the Narita International Airport Terminal 2 building and satellite building, and renovations to the Arrival Lobby, were completed in April 2015.
The “trajectory” on which a passenger shuttle system had previously ran was replaced by a walkway including a lounge space and walking area, with a 220-meter long window for a panoramic view.
These revamped spaces were designed with meticulous attention to their individual purposes, and a light environment suitable for each space was created in unity with the architecture.
Architecture and lighting were planned as one. A spectacular view through non-reflecting glass.
Lighting in the Arrival Concourse only illuminates passengers’ footing. The design called for an above-floor “cut-off line” from the LED light sources embedded in the partition wall, with a width of approximately 3 meters.
Panasonic and the architects collaborated in a thorough examination of how to create lighting that would only deliver light below this line. As a result, devices were installed in the key-shaped ends of the inside of the partition wall, with their LED light sources pointed 20° downward.
The partition wall that receives this light is R-shaped to allow it to act as a reflective plate. This realized a lighting environment that guides passengers to their destination while emphasizing the spectacular view outside, without causing reflections on the glass or the glass or uncomfortable glare for passengers.
Reflective plates are membranes shaped like folding screens. A nostalgic light pours down from the ceiling.
An open ceiling featuring rows of folding-screen-shaped membranes giving off a gentle glow greets passengers as they enter the Arrival Lobby.
The membranes hung from the ceiling have two different lengths, and rows of each length are placed alternately. The shorter membranes play the role of hiding the lighting devices embedded in the upper ceiling. The longer membranes lined up next to them receive their light. The membranes reflect or allow light through like a Japanese paper door, glowing with a soft white light.
Panasonic engineers derived a method to effectively illuminate the membranes while balancing illuminance and perceived brightness in collaboration with the architectural designers.
The architecture and lighting are treated as one.
Deemphasized lighting provides a sense of comfort and freedom for this large space.
The large open space located before the entrance to the Departure Concourse from the main building also achieves a steady perceived brightness with non-glare lighting.
For this space, Panasonic used seamless indirect lighting installed in a line below the windows, and upper lights facing the white ceiling. We employed a glare-less type of lighting for the down lights that illuminate the entrance to the escalator that descends to the Departure Concourse.
This ensures a sufficient brightness of approximately 250 lx while deemphasizing the existence of the lighting. This provides a sense of both comfort and freedom for the entire space.
Softly transitioning light from the light membrane ceiling gives a sense of healing to this Japanese-style space.
The design intent was “from a place to wait, to a place to spend time”.
The Departure Concourse contains a lounge space called “Narita Sky Lounge: Wa”, because many passengers must spend time waiting for connecting flights. As its name suggests, it is designed with a “Wa” (Japanese-style) motif, and this lighting enhances the space. Some of the top lights were created as a light membrane ceiling modeled after Japanese paper, and we installed full-color LED spotlights and white LED base lighting in the interior.
This light changes its pale hues based on the season and time of day, providing relaxation and restoration to passengers without drawing attention to the lighting.
Emphasizing the shadows of the relief wall makes a space bright and dynamic.
An open concourse with top lights is located before the entrance from the lounge space to the satellite building. In this renovation, the existing ceiling louvers were removed, aiming to increase the potential of the space as a whole.
Architects and lighting engineers collaborated in a series of discussions and tests of light distribution, lighting devices, and reflective plate design, resulting in the decision to embed LED lighting in the middle portion of the wall to illuminate the reliefs in the sidewalls on the opposite side.
The shadows in the reliefs show a rich and varied aspect as they receive light, and the area was reborn into a dynamic space with uniform and sufficient brightness.
Narita International Airport – Terminal 2 Building
- Client
- Narita International Airport Corporation
- Design
- Nikken Sekkei Ltd. / Azusa Sekkei Co., Ltd
- Joint Venture Construction
- Obayashi Corporation, Maeda Corporation (Arrival Lobby)
- Electrical Construction
- Kandenko, Shoei Densetsu (Arrival Lobby)
