In February, a new $1.5 billion terminal at Kansas City International Airport opened, marking the first major update to the facility since it opened in 1972. The new terminal brought 40 domestic and international gates with plans to expand to 50 gates in the future.

The new terminal features two moving walkways to carry passengers between two concourses. There are 16 security checkpoint lanes, a new 6,200-space adjacent parking garage, a sensory room, all-gender and gender-specific restrooms with changing tables, 10 nursing rooms, more than 40 local restaurant options, indoor and outdoor pet-relief areas, a children’s play area, an outdoor courtyard and stages for live music.

The new terminal building is LEED Gold Certified and uses an estimated 20 percent less power than former airport terminals. Solar panels cover the south side of the garage. The terminal’s all-electric buses are the first in the country to charge as they stop to load and unload passengers, using induction charging pads.

© Lucas Blair Simpson – SOM

The facility also was built with sloped floors instead of ramps for easier navigation for passengers with mobility challenges. There will also be visual paging at major information displays throughout the terminal to aid the deaf.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is the architectural firm responsible for the new terminal’s design. The airport’s redevelopment replaces the overcrowded three-terminal complex, originally built in 1972, with a single highly sustainable building that increases annual passenger capacity from 3.8 million to more than 11 million. Transforming the travel experience, the 1.1 million-square-foot terminal embodies the region’s rich culture, while elevating the airport into a place 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, is a testament to the strength of the Kansas City region’s demand for travel,” said Pat Klein, director of aviation, Kansas City. “SOM has designed KCI to be one of the most striking civic destinations in our city, and one of the most inclusive terminals in the world.” A total of 54 women-owned businesses worked on this project, and the number of women on the construction team tripled the industry average for participation at 8 percent.

Early in the development process, the city issued a resolution calling for the terminal to be “the most accessible in the world,” a goal that became a guiding principle for the design. 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 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.

© Lucas Blair Simpson – SOM

A series of colorful, locally designed mosaics, cut and preserved from the site’s previous terminal, sit 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 limestone wall serves as a backdrop to The Air Up There, a kinetic sculpture designed by Missouri-born artist Nick Cave and 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, part of a program designating 1 percent of the entire project budget to artwork.

Presently, the building runs entirely on electricity, but in coming years, a solar farm will be built to convert all airport operations to green energy. Many of the materials were sourced locally, and its wood finishes are FSC-certified. The master plan also includes a comprehensive conservation strategy maintaining native trees and grasses from KCI’s original construction.

Southwest Airlines has the most flights out of the airport, and Delta Air Lines is, at this point, the only carrier to have a lounge in the new facility. The 11,200-square-foot Delta Sky Club can hold almost 200 guests and includes two Sky Decks with views of the airfield. The Delta lounge offers a premium bar, full buffet and an art program featuring regional artists. Additional major carriers flying out of KCI include JetBlue, United, Spirit, Alaska, Air Canada, American, Southwest and Frontier.

“All the ideas we put forward in the design, the emphasis on inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability, mixed with preservation, art, and natural materials, come together to express the civic purpose of this terminal,” said Peter Lefkovits, design principal, SOM. “It’s a striking new gateway that prepares Kansas City for the long run.”