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Spaceport America Conceptual Images URS/Foster + Partners

Spaceport America began its construction last Friday 19th June,  in New Mexico. Being the first spaceport worldwide and designed by Foster + Partners and URS Corporation, the complex will host commercial operations by private space travel companies.

Spaceport America Conceptual Images URS/Foster + Partners

Spaceport America Conceptual Images URS/Foster + Partners

Organised into a highly efficient and rational plan, the Spaceport has been designed to relate to the dimensions of the spacecraft. There is also a careful balance between accessibility and privacy. The astronauts’ areas and visitor spaces are fully integrated with the rest of the building to convey the thrill of space travel. The more sensitive zones – such as the control room – are visible, but have limited access.

Spaceport America Conceptual Images URS/Foster + Partners

Visitors and astronauts enter the building via a deep channel cut into the landscape. The retaining walls form an exhibition space that documents the history of the region and its settlers, alongside a history of space exploration. The strong linear axis continues on a galleried level to the ‘superhangar’ – which houses the spacecraft and the simulation room – through to the terminal building.

Spaceport America Conceptual Images URS/Foster + Partners

Designed to have minimal embodied carbon and few additional energy requirements, the scheme has been designed to achieve the prestigious LEED Platinum accreditation. The low-lying form is dug into the landscape to exploit the thermal mass, which buffers the building from the extremes of the New Mexico climate as well as catching the westerly winds for ventilation. Natural light enters via skylights, with a glazed façade reserved for the terminal building, establishing a platform for the coveted views onto the runway.

Client: New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA), Virgin Galactic (tenant)
Consultants: URS Corporation, Balis and Company, URS Corporation, PHA Consult, Consult, Exploration-Synthesis Partner, Foster + Partners

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