Can a tropical airport reflect the beauty of its surroundings?

In 2011, CAZA won an international competition to design a new international airport on Boracay Island, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia. Caticlan Airport will be the first international airport built in the Philippines since the mid-1970s and will reimagine access to this tropical paradise.

The project involves a total of six interconnected structures: the passenger terminal, a control tower, a fire station, a hangar, an administration building, and a marine terminal.

In keeping with the location’s island surroundings, our winning concept employs an architectural language of relaxed structuralism. The architectural details strive to minimize connective elements, giving big and tall structures a feeling of lightness.

The structures are connected by gardens featuring tropical ferns, a forest, and a waterfall. This array of landscape experiences are not only visually and physically accessible, they also ensure breathable spaces and work against the sense of enclosure that typifies a traditional, sealed-off and bubble-like airport.

It systematically activates the dramatic, expansive space while allowing for life around the building to remain easygoing and open.

Our serene, yet lively design offers visitors to Boracay a seamless connection between their point of origin and the island’s legendary white sand beaches.

• PROJECT TEAM: Carlos Arnaiz, Laura del Pino, Tzu-Yin Wang, Jessy Yang, Shelby Ponce
• CLIENT: Transaire
• GENERAL CONTRACTOR: San Miguel