In a world where the increase in home parcel delivery is exponential, the biggest challenge lies in the final stage of the logistics process. With 80% of deliveries weighing less than 2kg and having a volume of less than a shoebox, drones are being used as a transport vehicle. The Urban Droneport is a logistics centre that provides an efficient and sustainable solution for last-mile parcel delivery in urban environments.

The project is based on a process architecture that optimises the operation of the logistics system and contributes to enhancing the new infrastructure. Following an analysis of these processes, a spherical formalisation was chosen, which makes it possible to develop circular plans and sections, thus favouring both the distribution and management of parcels and the flight of aircraft, avoiding the appearance of turbulence.

The building is designed as a large machine responsible for receiving, labelling and sorting the packages arriving from the transit centres of different companies and then, using RPAS, transporting them to their destination point. In the same way, the reverse process of collecting packages and sorting them to be sent by road transport to the transit centres is also carried out.

The architecture of the operational centre responds to functionalist factors, optimising resources, circulations, and forms. The lorry loading/unloading, storage, and sorting area is located on the lower floors of the sphere, thus ensuring a quick connection with the road accesses and favouring the continuity of the parcel distribution chain towards the hangars located in the building envelope. The upper floors house the services associated with the infrastructure network and the maintenance of its components.

As for the constructive and structural aspects of the building, the following principles apply: prefabrication, modularity, and rationality. The aim is to minimise the number of elements and types of joints, and a metallic structure with dry joints is chosen, which allows both its assembly and disassembly, as well as its extension or modification. The building is modulated in such a way that the details of its construction are resolved with just one of its twelve segments.

To make the operation of this new transport system viable, a new infrastructure network is designed which, together with the Logistics Centre, is adapted to the existing city. The network is based on two actions:

– The use of the city as a three-dimensional map that allows us to generate this new network physically separated from the existing ones.
– The design of the parcel delivery and collection elements responds to two casuistries: in buildings accessible from the facade, it is performed through individual mailboxes and, in buildings that are not accessible from the facade, it is carried out through communal mailboxes that can be located on the roof of the building itself or in a neighbouring public space.

This new infrastructure allows other connections to be established, independent from the parcel transport network for commercial purposes, such as an emergency health network between health centres and hospitals or public safety networks.

At ON-A, we are committed to designing more efficient, sustainable, and liveable cities. The Urban Droneport aligns with these values and represents a comprehensive solution to today’s parcel delivery challenges in urban environments.