waterloo VERTIPORT
EARLY TESTING FOR URBAN AVIATION IN A WORLD CAPITAL
Pascall+Watson led the speculative work on the Waterloo eVTOL Hub Vertiport with Swanson Aviation Consulting (now EA Maven), exploring the use of key urban locations for the successful integration of this form of personal / public transport. The project need case focused on the ‘last mile journey principles’ and was to be situated above and/or adjacent to primary transport interchanges which, in this case, was the Waterloo underground and overland rail station.
The project involved detailed thinking about the logistics and technologies that would be involved in both the passenger experience and launching of multiple vehicle types from a roof-top location. These explorations extended P+W’s deep knowledge of traditional aviation facilities and delved into technologies that could make rapid transit to the gate more feasible (and thus the business case for eVTOL more likely versus other forms of transport).
From an architectural point of view the scheme sought out a vision of the future, with clean lines, futuristic forms, and a celebration of transport – from the vehicle launch platforms to the lifts and escalators that take passengers to this dynamic world in the sky.
“Advanced Air Mobility presents a real opportunity to revitalise our major cities, providing quiet, zero-pollution solutions for swift metropolitan transit, and fill some of the gaps in our existing complex transport networks. Siting at transport hubs offer the chance for slick interchange between modes, and also areas of the urban realm that are more likely to accommodate such a form of light transport.”
