Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has joinined the Kansas City Aviation Department, the City of Kansas City, Missouri, developer Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, and design-builder Clark | Weitz | Clarkson for the opening of the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport.

The redevelopment replaces the previous, overcrowded terminals, originally built in 1972 and serving 3.8M passengers per year, with a single, highly sustainable building capable of serving over 16M. Transforming the travel experience, the 1.1M square-foot terminal embodies the region’s rich culture, while elevating the airport into a place that is inclusive and accessible to all.

The new terminal, designed, planned, and engineered by SOM with CWC and a team of consultants largely led by women, brings KCI far into the future. The building consolidates all airline operations under one roof, with a 6,000-space parking garage designed by BNIM just steps away, to create a seamless journey for arrivals and departures alike. The building’s 39 gates are used for domestic and international travel, and its layout enables the facility to expand by another 11 gates in the future.

The I-shaped building encompasses two levels: the upper for departing passengers and the lower for arrivals, each with their own access road and curb. Check-in and security occupy the upper level just inside the entrance, and baggage claim, customs, and an outdoor public garden comprise the lower level. Beyond security, two parallel concourses, with retail at the center, are linked by a pedestrian passage that provides sweeping views of the airfield. All of these post-security spaces are on the same level, a design move that creates an easier journey for passengers.

Every gate desk, check-in position, and info desk is set to a wheelchair-accessible height. The Kansas City Air Travel Experience simulator gives passengers who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with air travel the chance to “test run” in the days before a trip. A “quiet room” provides a refuge for all travelers in need of a calming space. With all-gender restrooms, a sensory room for children, and more, the new terminal makes the travel experience welcome to all segments of the public.

That inviting experience can be found in every space throughout the terminal. The entrance is a welcoming and light-filled space, sheltered by a generous overhang, with a glass facade and structurally expressive Y-columns. Warm materials clad the interiors, from the hemlock ceiling to the marble terrazzo floors. A series of colorful, locally designed mosaics, cut and preserved from the site’s previous terminal, have been placed throughout the floors of the new concourses, maintaining the memory of the original building.

Inside the Check-In Hall, a massive, 732-foot-long Missouri limesmetric tone wall serves as a backdrop to “The Air Up There,” a kinetic sculpture designed by Missouri-born artist Nick Cave that is made of thousands of colorful wind spinners to convey the wonder of travel. The sculpture is the first of 27 works of art spread throughout the terminal, and part of a program that designated one% of the entire project budget to artwork. Soo Sunny Park, Leo Villareal, Willie Cole, and a host of other artists embodied the look and feel of the city in a variety of ways—from honoring Kansas City’s moniker as the “City of Fountains” to evoking its contribution to the history of jazz.

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