The Athens International Airport Expansion, shortlisted in the Future Project: Infrastructure category at the World Architecture Festival Awards 2025, exemplifies how contemporary infrastructure can integrate high-performance façade engineering with place-sensitive design. Spearheaded by the Anemos consortium, including Grimshaw, Haptic Architects, K-STUDIO, and Arup, the scheme reflects a decisive step forward in sustainable glazing, solar management, and passenger experience.
At the heart of the project lies a sophisticated façade strategy, where architectural glass plays a defining role. Glass is not merely a material but a medium of light, visibility, and environmental control. The building envelope incorporates high-specification glazing systems, widely attributed to Saint-Gobain, renowned for their advanced solar-control coatings and thermal insulation capabilities. The glass surfaces ensure optimal daylight penetration while minimising solar gain, an essential balance in Athens’ Mediterranean climate.
Complementing the glazing are aluminium louver systems, reportedly supplied by Schüco, which frame the south wing’s façade. These large-format elements are both performative and expressive, serving as solar filters while transforming the façade into a kinetic surface that shifts with the sun. At night, the structure glows like a beacon, a testament to the synergy between light, transparency, and façade technology.
The design is further enriched by internal courtyards, oculi, filled with Mediterranean vegetation and wrapped in glass, reinforcing the theme of visual permeability and thermal comfort. The project aims to achieve LEED Gold certification, affirming its commitment to sustainable material sourcing and energy performance. 
This expansion is not merely an addition to an airport; it is a paradigm shift in how the glass and aluminium industries contribute to intelligent, adaptive infrastructure. It demonstrates how façade innovation can define a building’s identity, merging function, form, and climate responsiveness at the gateway to a historic capital.
Source: Glass Balkan
