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Virginia Tech

Flying on the Edge of Sea, Land and Sky - A new passenger terminal for the Grand Bahama International Airport

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Ever since the airport was conceived as a permanent building type, airport designers have debated what identity an airport should embody. As a threshold of first impressions, the airport should not only introduce the visitor to the local environment but also represent the identity of a country. The aim of this thesis project is to design an airport terminal that reflects the natural and cultural environments of the islands of the Bahamas. Through its architecture, this building attempts to create an engaging experience for its users: passengers, employees and visitors. Local culture and sense of place are abstracted through architectural ideas, realized in the language of contextual modernism. The synthesis of the themes and concepts explored throughout the design process are presented through drawings and commentary. Precedents such as the Taino cosmos, color and nature, place and culture are used to inspire structural systems, form and aesthetics. The plan of the new airport terminal fulfils the functional program while interpreting the land and sea formations of the Bahama islands; ocean currents and land-sea patterns may be associated with movements of people and machines, converging and diverging within the airport environment.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2005

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Ambrose, Serge
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Galloway, William U.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Edge, Kay F.
  • Trani, Antoino A.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-11262005-182624
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35824

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Ambrose, Serge. Flying on the Edge of Sea, Land and Sky - A new passenger terminal for the Grand Bahama International Airport. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35824