The last significant design piece became alright today on the city of Chicago’s $8.5 billion extensions of O’Hare International Airport’s gate space as authorities reported the signing of a $140 million agreement with Chicago architectural firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill and tapped another firm as the project’s lead civil engineer.
Skidmore will be accountable for designing two remote terminals to be fabricated west of the current Terminal 1, which is utilized by United Airlines.
The city prior signed an agreement with Studio ORD, headed by Chicago designer Jeanne Gang, to construct a new global terminal where the decades-old Terminal 2 presently stands.
Joined with a related extension of Terminal 5 that as of now is in progress, the projects will add many new doors to the blocked airfield, growing space by 60 percent. The city likewise is promising more modern facilities and improved shopping and retail opportunities.
The third design group which was chosen today, HNTB, will design less obvious yet at the same time critical parts of the extension, including a central tunnel system that will move utilities, baggage, and travelers among the terminals. Subtleties of its agreement presently can’t seem to be negotiated.
“Having two or three lead designers in place and working in parallel is a critical moment for the overall success of the O’Hare 21 program,” city Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee said in a statement. “We have assembled a team of unparalleled vision and talent, and every traveler who uses O’Hare will benefit.”
Skidmore’s $140 million is about as much as the $160 million Gang’s firm is getting for the flashier Global Terminal. Both are huge projects, authorities stated, with the satellite terminals alone roughly the size of all of Midway Airport’s traveler facilities.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Insider Quest 24x7 journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
