The Gibraltar International Airport Terminal is the first building visitors see on entering Gibraltar, whether by air, road or on foot. The design of the Gibraltar International Airport Terminal, symbolically and physically a new gateway to Gibraltar, reflects its aviation function and maritime location within a spectacular landscape overlooked by the Rock of Gibraltar. A large over-sailing roof provides shade and shelter to the fully glazed external walls which maximise views to the Rock and across the Straits toward Africa, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Covering a floor area of 19,600 sqm (213,000 sqft), the terminal has a passenger capacity of up to one and a half million per year and its facilities include 2 baggage carousels and 3 gates. From the first floor departures gates passengers make their way to the airplane via a vertical circulation and cross a landscaped green to access the airplane. Five new aircraft parking stands for these gates have been completed in front of the new terminal. Movement through the terminal is experienced as a generous flow of comfortable, naturally lit spaces of varying heights where the passenger remains in constant visual contact with the exterior via the glazed envelope or through the circular roof lights. These have been positioned to guide users through the more internal routes which culminate in the bright airy departures lounge with airside terrace or the main concourse, all of which provide expansive views of the surrounding landscape. The design of the roof lights generates animation of the spaces throughout the day throwing disks of diffused midday sunlight onto the floor and gently capturing the blue glow of the early evening. The forecourt is conceived as a landscaped park to provide a generous welcome to Gibraltar and the airport terminal and an identifiable ‘place’ at the frontier, to meet and greet whether on a local or extended journey. Designed by bblur architecture with 3DReid and NACO and led by bblur partner Daniel Bérubé the new Gibraltar International Airport Terminal is a world class facility which responds to a complex operational brief on a sensitive and severely constrained site while accommodating direct passenger access at the Spanish Frontier. The designers have created an airport terminal which gracefully overcomes its onerous constraints to provide a smooth and architecturally rich experience on the journey to and from the airplane.