Derby Airport

Client: Shire of Derby / West Kimblery

Location: Derby, WA

The Shire of Derby/West Kimberley has long been awaiting the development of an Airport Terminal upgrade to better service the region. The intent of this project was to move the existing passenger air terminal from the Curtin RAAF base much closer to Derby where a small terminal already exists. 

The small facility at the new location offered great improvements to staff and visitor commute times to and from Derby, however it required an upgrade and expansion to run effectively as the main public airport servicing the area. The Shire had recently been gifted 38 prefabricated, transportable units which became a driving factor of the design. Whitehaus arranged the units into a functional terminal layout and simple form in accordance with brief requirements and local cyclone regulations. In response to community and stakeholder concerns an existing mango tree and several boab trees were incorporated into the plans and the location of the terminal chosen to sit adjacent to the existing active terminal to avoid interference with its ongoing operations.

The Terminal houses transit gates, check-in and security areas, a kiosk,  electrical communications room, departure/arrivals lounges, baggage check-in as well as amenities and offices to service the airport. A timber screen facade system welcomes visitors to the terminal and ties the prefabricated elements toegther resulting in an attractive, high-quality and cost effective air-terminal for the West Kimberley community.