![]() ![]() This arrangement eliminates the need for escalators and gives passengers a consistent visual reference for their position in the journey from gate to baggage claim. Glass walls on both sides offer sweeping views of the airfield. This “connector” remains level with check-in and security. The mandate for inclusion we heard in those community meetings was strengthened when the mayor and city council issued a resolution calling for the terminal to be “the most accessible in the world.” For the Kansas City region, this meant creating a certain Midwestern hospitality - a welcoming character that invites all people of all backgrounds and abilities into the terminal. It is our responsibility to convey a sense of place through the terminal’s architecture. When a traveller steps off a boarding bridge, the terminal is their first impression of their destination. We quickly learned the depth of sentiment held by Kansas Citians for their airport, and what their aspirations were for the terminal.Īs architects, planners and engineers, we see these buildings not only as civic structures, but as embodiments of a community’s character and values. We met thousands of citizens in community centers, police stations, and churches. This gave us the extraordinary opportunity to hear directly from the traveling public before we ever set pen to paper.īeginning in 2017, our team fanned out across six city council districts and into neighboring Kansas. Voters approved the terminal’s construction by public referendum and the process called for multiple series of open meetings. Though our firm has designed aviation projects in Seattle, Toronto, Mumbai, Dublin, and Bangalore, to name a few, Kansas City International Airport (KCI) was different. ![]() Above all else, participants called for the terminal to be comfortable, convenient, and welcoming to all. Many asked for more charging stations , better restrooms, or that it be centered on a fountain, just like the ones adorning the boulevards for which the city is known. “You’ll know where you are as soon as you step off the plane.”Īt each of the three dozen community meetings our team at SOM attended in Kansas City, we fielded a bevy of requests and all manner of ideas for the design of the region’s new one-million-square-foot terminal. “Can we pump barbecue smells through the terminal?” one gentleman asked. ![]()
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