Design teams narrowed down for O'Hare International Airport Expansion

Five teams have been shortlisted by the City of Chicago to design the O'Hare 21 Terminal Expansion Project per The Construction Specifier. The following teams will compete for a chance to design the airport's largest expansion ever done:

 - Fentress EXP-Brook-Garza Joint Venture Partners

 - Foster Epstein Moreno Joint Venture Partners

 - Santiago Calatrava LLC

 - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

 - Studio ORD Joint Venture Partners

Those teams will go through the Request for Proposal (RFP) for lead architectural design services. An official selection committee will be made up of transportation, business and civic leaders from the city. 

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The $8.5 billion terminal project calls for an elevated travel experience, better access and amenities for customers, room to accommodate today's fast growing commercial aviation industry and the foundation to fuel Chicago's leading international air connectivity for the future. 

According to Chicago Curbed, the five architects will compete to design the O'Hare Global Terminal. This massive complex will replace the aging Terminal 2 and represents the airport's first major overhaul in 25 years and will join a planned expansion of Terminal 5 and renovations to Terminals 1 and 3.

"Chicago has called upon some of the world's best designers to help carry out our vision for the new O'Hare Global Terminal--the key to a bigger, better and more modern O'Hare for the 21st century. By the end of this competition, we will change the trajectory of O'Hare forever, and ensure Chicago remains a leading hub for travelers around the world."

Chicago Mayor | Rahm Emanuel

Officials will display design models from each team at different locations throughout the city to gather public feedback in the months ahead. Mayor Emmanel will decide on a lead architect before he leaves office at the end of his second term in the spring. The massive, multiphase project is expected to be completed by 2028 at the earliest.

Per The Real Deal, City aviation leaders plan to award contracts to two companies. The first place team will design the new terminal and the runner-up will design a pair of new satellite concourses. 

One of the designers, Calatrava is known locally as the architect who designed the Chicago Spire which would have been the city's tallest building if it had not been cancelled during the recession. He also designed the 365,000 square foot train station in Lower Manhattan known as the Oculus. Get qualified leads from DataBid.

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill is known for designing the towering Burj Khalifa in Dubai and One World Trade Center in New York. Related Midwest and Sterling Bay have also respectively tapped the firm for The 78 and Lincoln Yards, two Chicago mega projects that could combine for tens of millions of square feet of new interior space over the next few decades.