SALT LAKE CITY — The first phase of Salt Lake City International Airport’s $4 billion expansion is now complete and set to open Tuesday, Sept. 15. HOK Architects designed the project, which features more efficient passenger flow, visual aesthetics, new amenities and high environmental standards.
The airport serves more than 26 million passengers per year. Airport officials say that the original facilities, designed 50 years ago, were no longer efficient for use as a modern hub airport and were not built to today’s earthquake standards.
The project was funded with federal grants, user fees, airport revenue bonds and airport reserves. Construction began in July 2014. Completion of all phases is slated for 2024.
Leading the construction was HDJV, a joint venture between Holder Construction and Big-D Construction. AOJV, a joint venture between Austin Commercial and Okland Construction, led construction of the North Concourse. Design and engineering partners included HNTB, Colvin Engineering, Reaveley Engineers + Associates and Dunn Associates.
The new terminal is designed to eliminate airplane parking bottlenecks and enable airlines to get planes back in the air more quickly.
Napa, Calif.-based artist Gordon Huether completed art installations within the project. The largest installation, The Canyon, reflects Utah’s landscape and is integrated into both walls of the new terminal. The other significant installation is a 65-foot-tall glass sculpture in the escalator titled The Falls.
“The prime objective from the start was to celebrate the natural beauty of Utah in a fully architecturally, integrated art program,” says Heuther. “The big idea is to blur the lines between art and architecture.”
— Kristin Hiller