The new terminal at Azerbaijan’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport in the country’s capital of Baku features interior architecture and experiential design by Autoban. Bearing all the hallmarks of the multidisciplinary studio’s experimental, genre-defying approach, the contemporary interiors overturn airport conventions of cavernous space and impersonal experience.

Taking inspiration from Azerbaijani hospitality, Autoban’s Red Dot award-winning design spans the entirety of the terminal’s passenger spaces, and includes striking custom-made wooden cocoons that create a sense of welcome and discovery, and opportunities to either meet or retreat.

At the terminal, Autoban’s bespoke furnishings and lighting schemes upend airport typologies, opting for tactile natural materials such as wood, stone and textiles, gently and warmly lit. The cocoons – which vary in size and house an array of cafes, kiosks and other amenities – exist at the convergence of architecture and art, creating an inviting, intriguing landscape within the huge transportation hub that challenges expectations of the airport environment.

The studio has also conceived, designed and furnished four lounges exclusively for business class use, extending the best of their hospitality expertise to these premium passengers.

Now spanning 65,000 square metres, more than six million passengers a year are expected to pass through the airport, enjoying Autoban’s thoughtful, highly functional and memorable gateway to the country and the wider Caucasus region.

Total area 65,000 m2 Client Azerbaijan Airways (AZAL) Architectural concept ARUP Interior design Autoban Project team Seyhan Özdemir, Sefer Çağlar / Gökhan Uzun, Bilal Aydın, Kerem Özerler, Hani Troudi, Zeynep Akten, Müge Çakır, Avni Alçın, Kerim Özkan, Elif Özbay, Kutay Yorulmaz, Güven Yalın, Necmi Tığlı, Tolga Özen, Tolga Manacıoğlu, Christine Açıkgöz Corporate & financial management Efe Aydar Structural & MEP engineering design Buro Happold Architectural consultant Woods Bagot Management contractor AzVirt LLC Main contractor MAPA Envelope design & build Waagner Biro Specialist airport installations SITA Baggage handling system Vanderlande Lifts & escalators Schindler Airbridges Jetway Photography Kerem Sanlıman