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VIDEO: Airspeeder and architecture firm HOK reveal stunning modular race vertiport and event space

Air­speed­er and HOK has revealed a rev­o­lu­tion­ary design for a mod­u­lar race ver­ti­port and event space, which aims to trans­form how eVTOL rac­ing is viewed and expe­ri­enced.

The Air­speed­er design address­es the unique chal­lenges of air rac­ing while cre­at­ing an immer­sive space for spec­ta­tors. At the heart of the con­cept is the Sky­deck – a mul­ti-func­tion­al hub that sits direct­ly beneath the air­borne race­track, giv­ing fans an unmatched expe­ri­ence of the race.

The ver­ti­cal nature of the set­up offers a 360-degree expe­ri­ence, where view­ers can see every­thing from the race grid to mid-race pit

John Rhodes, Direc­tor of Sports + Enter­tain­ment at HOK, said: “It is incred­i­bly excit­ing to design a brand new sports typol­o­gy. Air­speed­er chal­lenged us to draw on our decades of exper­tise design­ing for F1 and oth­er sport­ing events while also imag­in­ing a phys­i­cal envi­ron­ment for the future.”

One of the stand­out fea­tures of the Sky­deck is its mod­u­lar­i­ty. The design allows for easy expan­sion, ensur­ing that the facil­i­ty can grow along­side the Air­speed­er series. Ini­tial­ly set to accom­mo­date up to 10 teams and 20 Air­speed­ers, the struc­ture can scale to meet the evolv­ing needs of the sport, keep­ing pace with its rapid devel­op­ment.

<strong>Image cred­it INK Agency<strong>

HOK’s design also fea­tures an ‘air­side’ zone, where teams have pro­tect­ed work­spaces, ensur­ing oper­a­tional safe­ty while still allow­ing spec­ta­tors to feel part of the action. Retractable land­ing pads enable Air­speed­ers to make mid-race pit stops to change bat­ter­ies, ensur­ing fair­ness and effi­cien­cy in com­pe­ti­tion.

This adapt­abil­i­ty makes it a long-term solu­tion for both rac­ing and fan engage­ment, ensur­ing that the infra­struc­ture can evolve with­out los­ing its core func­tion­al­i­ty.

In line with Airspeeder’s com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­i­ty, the mod­u­lar ver­ti­port adheres to a ‘leave no trace’ pol­i­cy. Solar-pow­ered infra­struc­ture and vir­tu­al race tracks mean the design min­imis­es envi­ron­men­tal impact, par­tic­u­lar­ly in desert envi­ron­ments where ear­ly races will take place.

The project also promis­es an enhanced spec­ta­tor expe­ri­ence, bal­anc­ing both real and aug­ment­ed views of the race. The design brings fans clos­er to the action with retractable land­ing pads for mid-race pit stops and advanced tech­nol­o­gy that con­nects fans, whether on-site or watch­ing remote­ly. It’s a first-of-its-kind approach to motor­sport, inte­grat­ing cut­ting-edge design with inter­ac­tive fan expe­ri­ences.

<strong>Image cred­it INK Agency<strong>

Stephen Sid­lo, Glob­al Media and Mar­ket­ing Direc­tor at Air­speed­er, said: “We believe that fly­ing car rac­ing will ini­ti­ate a new mobil­i­ty rev­o­lu­tion, advanc­ing eVTOL and EV tech­nol­o­gy to ben­e­fit the entire indus­try. This col­lab­o­ra­tion with HOK rep­re­sents not just a new sport but the future of high-speed, sus­tain­able mobil­i­ty.”

In part­ner­ship with Salt­wa­ter Games, cre­ators of the Air­speed­er game Celeros, Air­speed­er is not just push­ing the lim­its of fly­ing car rac­ing through gam­ing, but also prepar­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of eVTOL pilots at these loca­tions.

The sim­u­la­tor will be used both at live race events and beyond, blend­ing vir­tu­al and real-world train­ing to ensure that rac­ers are pre­pared for the unique chal­lenges of air­borne com­pe­ti­tion.

Salt­wa­ter Games is also an investor in Air­speed­er, fur­ther strength­en­ing their role in shap­ing the future of fly­ing car rac­ing. Air­speed­er were also joined on this project with part­ners INK Agency who pro­vid­ed all imagery and part­ner Epi­dem­ic Sound who worked on all sound design.

The design marks an excit­ing step in the devel­op­ment of Air­speed­er as both a sport and a vision for the future of mobil­i­ty. The mod­u­lar ver­ti­port is more than just infra­struc­ture plan­ning — it’s a state­ment about the poten­tial of eVTOL rac­ing and the future of urban mobil­i­ty at scale.

HOK has a proven track record of design­ing and deliv­er­ing inno­v­a­tive projects, includ­ing LaGuardia Air­port Ter­mi­nal B in New York, the Mer­cedes-Benz Sta­di­um in Ata­lan­ta, Geor­gia, and the icon­ic Eti­had Are­na on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, show­cas­ing their exper­tise in cre­at­ing cut­ting-edge envi­ron­ments world­wide.

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Jason Pritchard

Jason Pritchard is the Editor of eVTOL Insights. He holds a BA from Leicester's De Montfort University and has worked in Journalism and Public Relations for more than a decade. Outside of work, Jason enjoys playing and watching football and golf. He also has a keen interest in Ancient Egypt.

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