"Wonderland" Air Terminal at Oban Airport Part 1 Project 2004 Gareth SymsEdward Ponti Edinburgh College of Art | UK The earth’ crust cracks open wide like an ice sheet. The sharp jagged edges of the crack frame a dark and damp cavern beneath the earth’s surface. Wonderland is born.Passengers arrive by car deep in the ground and ascend to the hanging lounge area. Beneath the mirrored lounge, passengers see cars move, shuffle and park. Overhead, they see an idle aircraft, waiting for them to ascend once more.Wonderland makes the transition between earth and sky ever more powerful.Passengers inside the space can only see earth and sky and the wonder between the two. With the prospect of oil from the Minch, oil traffic, freight and tourism, daily school runs, search and rescue, police, air ambulance, ferry flights, RAF training, gliding, refuelling and aviation support provision, there has been a revival of interest in the expansion of Oban Airport at Connel Airstrip. This project focuses on the design of a new air terminal building for a hundred and fifty thousand passengers each year and eleven thousand fixed wing, rotary, training, test and over-flight aircraft movements. The impressive aspect of this design is its capacity to support an imaginative and efficient interface between earth and sky in the dramatic landscape of Ardmucknish Bay. Tutor(s)