Among more than 20 teams expressing an interest in the role are AECOM, Grimshaw, Adjaye Associates and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) working with New York’s Bermello Ajamil & Partners.

The call for concepts was launched in early December following remarks by US president Donald Trump that the Eero Saarinen-designed 1962 complex was ‘incorrectly designed’ and needed an overhaul.

The US Department of Transport (US DoT) invited the ‘best and brightest developers, architects, and engineers’ to step forward with visions to ‘construct completely new terminals and concourses’ at the airport, which is currently named after US Cold War-era statesman John Foster Dulles.

According to the announcement, proposals could either replace or build on the existing main terminal and satellite concourses, which are served by an outdated fleet of vehicular ‘mobile lounges’ used to move passengers to their departure gates (pictured below).

According to the brief: ‘Washington Dulles International Airport is known for its dated facilities, inefficient system of people-movers that deliver passengers as much as a half mile away from their gates, its moon-rover-like “mobile lounges,” jet fuel smell in the concourses and a paltry number of gates at the main terminal.

‘The US DoT supports the development of a new world-class airport to replace or build on the existing facility.’

Dulles Airport is located around 40km west of central Washington DC. Designed by Saarinen, the airport includes a dramatic main terminal and the innovative system of ‘mobile lounges’ used to shuttle passengers and reduce long walks around the complex.

Originally intended to connect passengers directly to their planes, the vehicles are now used to serve satellite terminals, due to increased passenger demand.

Dulles Airport proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects

ZHA and Grimshaw both submitted visuals as part of their responses to the US DoT’s Requests for Information Responses, which referenced Trump’s recent Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again executive order.

Promising to ‘Make Airports Great Again’ – ZHA’s submission set out a range of proposals, including creating a new complex, dubbed the Donald J Trump Terminal, immediately next to the current Saarinen-designed building.

Grimshaw’s submission – drawn up with Ferrovial – meanwhile proposed a new ‘state-of-the-art processor’ building to the north of the current terminal which in turn could be freed up become a ‘vibrant airside concessions destination for passengers to enjoy’.

Conservationist group Docomomo DC also submitted a written statement describing Dulles Airport as ‘a landmark of American design, engineering, and cultural history’ and ‘strongly [opposing] any revitalization approach that would compromise the essential form, structure, materials, or spatial qualities of Saarinen’s design’.

A consortium including Grimshaw and Arup has elsewhere been shortlisted for the redevelopment of New York’s Pennsylvania Station.

Image: Shutterstock