A Frankfurt airport interior elevates travel with its flowing, ‘lava-like’ ceiling
Redesigning the airport’s Terminal 3 Marketplace, architects LAVA play with light, movement and generosity of space
Frankfurt Airport has a striking new interior look, courtesy of German architects LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture). Terminal 3's Marketplace, the communal waiting and leisure space just beyond security at the major German transport hub, has been thoroughly redesigned to elevate the travel experience, using 'computational design tools and human-centred spatial strategies', the architects explain.
Discover the new Frankfurt airport interior by LAVA
Airports are complex places. There are health and safety logistics, as well as lots of restrictions and multiple layers (such as circulation areas for ground staff, visitors, and airline employees) to consider, before even getting to an aesthetic approach.
LAVA, founded in 2007 by Chris Bosse, Alexander Rieck, and Tobias Wallisser, has a base in Berlin and Stuttgart, as well as Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney, and is known for not shying away from a challenge.
The studio has tackled complex, multi-layered briefs before – including masterplans, civic infrastructure and the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka – and functions as a laboratory, often working with digital technology to help guide the team to the best possible solutions. This was also the case here, at Frankfurt Airport.
Rieck, partner at LAVA, says: 'The goal was to transform waiting times in a liminal space into moments of reflection and wellbeing [through careful design], enhancing the travel experience with digital processes. With the Terminal 3 Marketplace, we’ve created a transient space that invites people to stay.'
Working with notions of 'movement, pause, and daylight', the team organised their floorplan as an 'archipelago' of spatial moments. These 'islands' present as large-scale terrazzo-clad elements. They hold different functions, such as retail, dining, and a lounge.
Cones forming in a fluid, parametric, 'lava-like' ceiling above help define these areas, bringing everything together visually, too, and creating an important architectural centrepiece for the design. They also incorporate skylights, which bring natural light into the airport hall, which will help calibrate 'the circadian rhythm of international travellers crossing time zones', the architecture team explains.
'With the Terminal 3 Marketplace, we are creating a central space that enhances the passenger experience beyond functionality. In collaboration with LAVA, we have developed an environment that responds to the complexity of airport operations while offering clarity, comfort, and orientation for travellers,' says Harald Rohr, managing director (technical affairs) with Fraport, which operates the terminal.
