The Virgin Gateway to Space building is the world's first commercial space terminal. Designed by (unsurprisingly) Norman Foster, the building is located in an isolated desert landscape. The shapes, forms and not to forget the technology of the building clearly resemble a style that can be considered to be one that mixes architectural styles from various modern day sci-fi movies. The look of the building itself illustrates the purpose of the building quite clearly - Even an unknowing visitor would probably be able to guess that whatever is in the building, might probably get you up and above the clouds. There are some classical Norman Foster sustainable design methods used in this building for natural cooling and such, but these are not the noteworthy in this case. This building is the first of its kind, but clearly marks a new era in transportational architecture. Although the users of this building will be very few (not to mention their wealth!), one day, such commercial spaceports might become available to the common man, and it's surely going to be interesting to see how the building functions over time.
Further reading:
- http://goo.gl/LpQxG
- Andy Minchev
