Jordan Building Futuristic Solar-Powered Port

Jordan’s Aqaba Container Terminal is set to be a futuristic zero-emission port. Architects Bjarke Ingels Group, as well as APM Terminals and Maersk aim to reimagine, “the future of the shipping industry with the green transformation” of the port. The transformed port incorporates solar installations and canopies, which allow for zero-emission functions and reliance on fully electrified cranes, vehicles and charging stations. Local communities will be able to connect with industrial businesses through training centres and recreational spaces allowing places around the port that in the past may have been an industrial wasteland into green hubs. Giulia Frittoli, Partner, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, says: “As an urban planner and landscape architect the collaboration has been a unique chance to explore the hidden potential behind industrial sites and rethink infrastructure as a catalyst for urban, sustainable transformation”. Other design points which will help the new port be cleaner and more efficient include relocating the customs facility closer to the port allowing the clearance process is optimised and directly linked to Aqaba’s Logistics Village – an area where trade opportunities will be offered to local businesses. Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Partner, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, explains that the design are part of his firm’s efforts to “plan pragmatically for a sustainable, human presence on Earth”