{"id":394996,"date":"2026-01-28T12:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/394996\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:53:10","slug":"zha-proposes-donald-j-trump-terminal-as-brits-vie-for-dulles-airport-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/394996\/","title":{"rendered":"ZHA proposes \u2018Donald J Trump Terminal\u2019 as Brits vie for Dulles Airport job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among more than 20 teams expressing an interest in the role<\/a> are AECOM, Grimshaw, Adjaye Associates and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) working with New York\u2019s Bermello Ajamil & Partners.<\/p>\n

The call for concepts<\/a> was launched in early December following remarks by US president Donald Trump that the Eero Saarinen-designed 1962 complex was \u2018incorrectly designed\u2019 and needed an overhaul.<\/p>\n

The US Department of Transport (US DoT) invited the \u2018best and brightest developers, architects, and engineers\u2019 to step forward with visions to \u2018construct completely new terminals and concourses\u2019 at the airport, which is currently named after US Cold War-era statesman John Foster Dulles.<\/p>\n

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proposals could either replace or build on the existing main terminal and satellite concourses, which are served by an outdated fleet of vehicular \u2018mobile lounges\u2019 used to move passengers to their departure gates (pictured below).<\/p>\n

According to the brief: \u2018Washington Dulles International Airport\u202fis known for its\u202fdated\u202ffacilities,\u202finefficient system of people-movers that deliver passengers as much as a half mile away from their gates, its moon-rover-like \u201cmobile lounges,\u201d jet fuel smell in the concourses and a paltry number of gates at the main terminal.<\/p>\n

\u2018The US DoT supports the development of a new world-class airport to replace or build on the existing facility.\u2019<\/p>\n

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 \u2018mobile lounges\u2019 used to shuttle passengers and reduce long walks around the complex.<\/p>\n

Originally intended to connect passengers directly to their planes, the vehicles are now used to serve satellite terminals, due to increased passenger demand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dulles Airport proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects<\/p>\n

ZHA and Grimshaw both submitted visuals as part of their responses to the US DoT\u2019s Requests for Information Responses, which referenced Trump\u2019s recent Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again<\/a> executive order.<\/p>\n

Promising to \u2018Make Airports Great Again\u2019 \u2013 ZHA\u2019s submission<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Grimshaw\u2019s submission \u2013 drawn up with Ferrovial \u2013 meanwhile proposed a new \u2018state-of-the-art processor\u2019 building to the north of the current terminal which in turn could be freed up become a \u2018vibrant airside concessions destination for passengers to enjoy\u2019.<\/p>\n

Conservationist group Docomomo DC<\/a> also submitted a written statement describing Dulles Airport as \u2018a landmark of American design, engineering, and cultural history\u2019 and \u2018strongly [opposing] any revitalization approach that would compromise the essential form, structure, materials, or spatial qualities of Saarinen\u2019s design\u2019.<\/p>\n

A consortium including Grimshaw and Arup has elsewhere been shortlisted for the redevelopment of New York\u2019s Pennsylvania Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Image: Shutterstock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Among more than 20 teams expressing an interest in the role are AECOM, Grimshaw, Adjaye Associates and Zaha…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[42297,54030,1030,6225,6485,6486,1120,96,123415,56,54,55,659,803,25860],"class_list":["post-394996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-adjaye-associates","tag-aecom","tag-airport","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-grimshaw","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-usa","tag-washington-dc","tag-zaha-hadid-architects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}