Could this idea for an Urban Droneport facilitate the future of drone-based deliveries?

Companies have been wondering aloud for quite some time about the possibility of using drones as the couriers of the future. Amazon has not made it a secret that they want to use drones to deliver packages in the near future and, earlier this year, Domino’s delivered the first pizza by drone in New Zealand.

But, as inhabitat.com reports, large scale drone delivery still has plenty of kinks to work out because many areas lack the necessary infrastructure to support hundreds of drones flying around like something out of The Fifth Element on a daily basis.

That may change, however, as architecture student Saúl Ajuria Fernández, who is working on his master’s of architecture at Universidad de Alcalá, recently showed off his design for a solar-powered drone hub in Madrid he calls “Urban Droneport.”

Urban Dorneport is shaped like a dome and would house hundreds of drones in spherical hangars that cover the outside of the structure. The interior, meanwhile, would house a logistics center and State Institute of Technology Development. Think of it as a giant wasps nest, with drones coming and going constantly, while the interior is a flurry of work and activity.

Fernández’s design employs prefabrication and modularity to allow for quick assembly and disassembly and easy expansion or modification. Hangar doors would double as solar panels to gather energy and provide almost the entirety of what the building would require to operate. A center courtyard would provide the interior space with natural light.

The design for Urban Droneport was created for Madrid, but Fernandez says it could easily be adapted for additional cities.

Rendering courtesy of Saúl Ajuria Fernández

Image courtesy of Saúl Ajuria Fernández

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