Air New Zealand Hangar 4

On its completion in early 2025, Air New Zealand's new flagship hangar — Hangar 4 in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland — will be the largest single-span timber arch aircraft hangar in the southern hemisphere.

At one and a half times the size of Air New Zealand's largest existing hangar, Hangar 4 will be able to house one wide-bodied aircraft, such as a Boeing 777-300 or 787-9, as well as two narrow-bodied aircraft, such as an A320 or an A321neo, at the same time.

The new structure will be the largest single span timber arch aircraft hangar in the world. The laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) hybrid timber arch, designed in association with structural engineers Dunning Thornton, spans 98 metres and has a low total structure mass, making it considerably easier and more efficient to put together on site than a similarly sized steel structure would be. The arch geometry also resulted in an increased net-useable floor area in the hangar, which will provide for internal storage of equipment and aircraft planning offices. Specialist services to the planes will be delivered underground to service pits.

The new 10,000m2 engineering facility was first announced in 2019 and will be world-leading in sustainability, with a 5-6 Green Star rating. The rating system, certified by the NZGBC (New Zealand Green Building Council) is internationally recognised for the design, construction, and operation of buildings.

Construction of the hangar is underway with an anticipated completion in 2025. 

 

Consultants: Studio Pacific Architecture (Architecture), Holmes Group (Structure and Fire Engineer), Dunning Thornton (Timber Structure Engineer), AECOM (Civil and Services Engineers), GHD (Civil Engineer), TSA (Project Management), BBD (Quantity Surveyor) ECubed (Sustainibility Lead), AES (Acoustic Engineer), Ergo (HV Engineering)

Contractor: NZ Strong