While modern architecture almost never bids well for the natural habitat of the animals and birds around it, this latest “airport” is designed solely to reverse that effect. A green design company McGregor Coxall has just unveiled their latest architecture design which, they claim, will be the world’s first migratory “Bird Airport.”
The design will be built on a landfill in Lingang, China, which is a wetland bird sanctuary that hosts more than 50 million birds from the Antarctic along the East Asian-Australian Flyway (EAAF). The route has become a precarious one for the birds due to coastal urbanization, which is the lead causes for the migration of 1 in 5 globally endangered waterbirds.
The same reason prompted the Port of Tianjin to create this unique wetland sanctuary for migrating birds. The McGregor Coxall’s designed Bird Airport will consist of 60 hectares of wetland park, where the birds will land, refuel, and breed through the flyway.
The airport will be powered using renewable energy, while the wetlands will be irrigated with recycled wastewater and harvested rain.
Explaining the inspiration behind the project, Adrian McGregor, CEO and lead designer of McGregor Coxall talked,
“The earth’s bird flyways are a wonder of the natural world.”
He added,
“The proposed Bird Airport will be a globally significant sanctuary for endangered migratory bird species whilst providing new green lungs for the city of Tianjin.”
Along with helping the birds, the plan will add plenty of park space to the city, with a 7 km network of walking and cycling paths, and the recreational urban forest trails. The construction of the bird airport will begin in late 2017, and the project is estimated to be completed in 2018.
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