SHoP’s concept for Uber Elevate aims to reclaim the promise of past eras of flight: the magic embodied in the idea of effortless movement.

To ensure that a sense of freedom pervades the entire mobility hub, the design is built up from a detailed analysis of a large number of individual passenger use cases, as well as parameters relating to aircraft operation. The resulting forms reflect optimized relationships between those factors, which are then expressed architecturally via a number of innovative construction methodologies inspired by aircraft design and manufacturing.

With three pads, the capacity of the concept is 72 round-trip flights per hour. This pencils out to a total of 288 arriving passengers and an equal number of departing passengers. The hub also accommodates 150 ebikes, 150 escooters, 75 eV charging locations, a Greenlight hub, an Uber Eats pickup site, and a bicycle maintenance center—all under its integrated photovoltaic roof.