Keflavík Airport Area Strategic Masterplan Competition, Iceland
Team KCAP Architects&Planners, including MIC—HUB, wins Keflavík Airport Area Strategic Masterplan Competition in Iceland!
With an integrated vision that links an ambitious economic development concept to sustainable urban design, landscape, and mobility strategies, Team KCAP won the international competition for the Keflavík Airport Area Strategic Masterplan in Iceland.
The multidisciplinary team led by KCAP includes WSP, Felixx, MIC-HUB, VSO Consulting, Buck Consultants International, Buro Happold, Base Design, Maurits Schaafsma, Amberg Loglay and Kanon Arkitektar.
MIC-HUB is responsible for the mobility vision and the future public transport strategy for the Masterplan.
The competition was organised by the Keflavík Airport Development Company (Kadeco), which leads the development of a 55km2 area surrounding Iceland’s global aviation hub.
Kadeco’s CEO Pálmi Freyr Randversson praised the winning proposal as ‘a crucial step to realising our future vision for the airport area. I’m thrilled to partner with Team KCAP on this project of national importance.’ The masterplan seeks to transform strategic locations in the airport area into a showcase for the country’s ambitious economic development and sustainability strategies. It was this approach—together with the proposal for collaborative development between public and private sectors—that earned the team the first prize. The second and third prizes were awarded to international consortia led by Arup and Jacobs respectively.
The winning proposal aims to capitalise on Keflavik’s strategic position between Europe and North America, its plentiful supply of renewable energy, and the captivating landscape of the Reykjanes UNESCO Geopark; it sets the path for long-term sustainable development and acts as a catalyst to innovate the Icelandic economy. At the same time, the masterplan seeks to ensure that the airport and local communities of Reykjanesbær and Suðurnesjabær grow together in a mutually beneficial manner. With that in mind, Team KCAP’s proposal emphasises projects that have a strong local ownership and respond to existing needs.
The team’s strategy identifies catalyst sites that can achieve a high impact in terms of identity and value creation. These sites form a polycentric urban archipelago, connected by the landscape of the Airport Corridor. Landscape innovation will be deployed to integrate climate mitigation, and will play a fundamental role as the ‘identity carrier’ for the airport area. Tapping into the government’s climate action plan that identifies reforestation as a top priority, the landscape concept connects the Airport Corridor into a national network of reforestation projects. A future oriented mobility vision comprising the Keflavík-Reykjavík Link (BRT), local public transport and active mobility linkages connects the airport area’s urban nodes for travellers, workers and inhabitants alike.