This week, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is debuting a new civic landmark for the Kansas City area they claim will also set a new benchmark for inclusive design in transportation architecture while bringing its 51-year-old airport “far into the future.”

The new, 39-gate terminal comes with an adjacent 6,000-space parking garage designed by BNIM and importantly consolidates three smaller terminals into a single two-story structure. With room to expand by another 11 gates in the coming years, its layout keys on user circulation and comes with a series of design features in line with the city’s resolution to make it the “most accessible in the world.”

Under a hemlock-clad ceiling overhang, both levels of the light-filled, 1.1 million-square-foot I-shaped structure come with a series of locally-designed mosaics made from materials preserved from its predecessor building in order to preserve its memory. The products of an intensive community-led design process can therein be seen through the incorporation of 100 percent wheelchair-accessible-height desks and check-in positions, a “quiet room,” children’s sensory space, gender-neutral bathrooms, and an Air Travel Experience Simulator meant to help first-time travelers overcome their fear of flying. 

Also included throughout the new terminal are 27 site-specific sculptures, murals, and other works made by blue-chip artists such as Nick Cave and Willie Cole that pay homage to Kansas City’s musical history and status as the “City of Fountains.”  

A public garden completes the lower level of the structure, offering sweeping views of the tarmac and flight line beyond. 

Finally, the all-electric design makes the terminal the first LEED v4 GOLD BD+C: NC project in the Midwest (and second in the U.S. overall), with the goal to run entirely on renewable energy sources in the near future. A solar farm will be enacted later in order to help accomplish this goal. The total budget for the project was $1.5 billion.

“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,” SOM Principal Peter Lefkovits shared finally. “It’s a striking new gateway that prepares Kansas City for the long run.”