Virtually flying through new airport
I’m standing in the check-in area of New Plymouth’s pristine new
$25 million airport terminal.
People are milling about, checking in for their flights or watching the arrivals board. They’re all nicely dressed and obviously well off, judging by the Audis and BMWs outside.
On my left is a wall of greenery and the marker for the sacred stone buried underneath the entrance for the Puketapu Hapu¯ .
A bag-drop carousel runs along the clean, white wall and the car some lucky joker might win is parked to the side – I’ll always wonder what it must look like when they drive those things in – and beyond that, the new cafe and retail shops.
The departure lounge has a wing looking out to the runway through floor-length glass.
Overlooking it all are the tukutuku panels, designed by Puketapu hapu¯ , which wanted them to be part of the rebuild but not ‘‘overly dominate’’, said Gaye Batty, project director for airport company Papa Rererangi i Puketapu (PRIP).
Outside, you are greeted by a modern, glass-fronted building as you get off your plane and enter the arrivals area.
It looks stylish and impressive. But it hasn’t been built yet. In reality the site has been cleared, the construction wall is up and the work crew will be onsite next week, with the new building expected to open at the end of 2019.
Yesterday, I was treated to a virtual reality tour of the terminal, walking through it and even flying above it. Clad in a headset and holding remotes to control my movement, I was right there in the building – or at least inside a computerised 3D model of it.
Flying up to have a look at the roof was the best bit. It’s the freakiest feeling – my feet are on the ground, but my mind believes I am floating skyward. I look down over the runway, and the carpark and the trees. Then I jump off the roof back to the tarmac.
Matt Low, associate civil engineer for Beca, said the VR tool was an amazing asset.
‘‘It just helps for that whole perspective of what they’re building,’’ he said.
‘‘From an engineer’s point of view, it’s a great tool to be able to go in and look at the various developments and how they interface.
‘‘You can easily work out ‘these clash’ so they’re not being resolved onsite – they’re resolved before they even get there.’’
Batty said the height and the sense of space stood out to her the first time she saw the VR image.
I’ve got to have one more go at flying, this time from inside the terminal, and I feel myself tense just before I break through the ceiling. It’s not real, I remind my brain. Not until the end of next year, anyway.