The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Architects for airport expansion

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Monday, Sep 22, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Architects for airport expansion

A.Srivathsan and P.Oppilli

Four firms do the design

— Photo courtesy: Fredric Schwartz Architects, Gensler, Hargreaves Associates & Creative Group

An aerial view of the airport; interior of airside holdroom; interior of security area; and exterior of the departure and arrival area.

Chennai: Following an international competition, a team of architects comprising Frederic Schwartz Architects, Hargreaves Associates, and Gensler based in the United States and Creative Group, New Delhi was chosen to design the expansion of Chennai International Airport.

In a telephone interview to The Hindu, Frederic Schwartz explained that the design is a collaborative effort of four firms. While the Hargreaves Associates has done the landscape design his firm has been responsible for the design of buildings on the landside of the runway. The Creative Group would be the local architects for the project. He explained that the proposed design connects with existing terminal design elements. It was earlier reported that the new terminal buildings will have a handling capacity of 10 million passengers and when integrated with existing terminals will provide for a handling capacity of 23 million passengers a year. The terminal buildings is expected to have an area of about 1, 40,000 sq. m. with 140 check-in counters and 60 immigration counters.

In response to the question about designing terminals for the second runway, Mr.Schwartz replied that the two runways will be interconnected by a taxiway. The design details of the runways are handled by the Airports Authority of India, while architecture firms are limited to designing buildings on the landside of the runway, he added. The present proposal is parallel to the existing runway. The Hargreaves Associates website describes that the entire design as being organised around “two lush sustainable gardens” and the wing-like roofs helps collect rainwater and become part of the garden.

— Photo courtesy: Fredric Schwartz Architects, Gensler, Hargreaves Associates & Creative Group