Featured, Transit + Infrastructure

O’Hare International Airport Multi Modal Terminal

Chicago, Illinois | Complete, 2019
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Sit­ed at the ter­mi­nus of the Air­port Trans­porta­tion Sys­tem (ATS) exten­sion, the Mul­ti­modal Ter­mi­nal at O’Hare Inter­na­tion­al Air­port com­bines light tran­sit, com­muter rail, region­al bus­es, shut­tles, car rental, and longer-term park­ing into a 3,000,000 gsf facility. 

The cen­tral focus of pas­sen­ger expe­ri­ence is a glass clad ter­mi­nal pavil­ion that cel­e­brates speed, move­ment, and tran­si­tions on the air­port cam­pus. Train arrival at the build­ing is cel­e­brat­ed through views to and through the build­ing. As pas­sen­gers arrive, they descend through a light filled space that is punc­tu­ate by art and archi­tec­ture. Two illu­mi­nat­ed cor­ri­dors inform move­ment to the park­ing lev­els beyond by way of soar­ing daylit atri­ums. For pas­sen­gers arriv­ing by car, long-term park­ing on the top lev­el is bro­ken up by two plant­ed court­yards that serve as moments of sur­prise and wayfinding. 

Art inte­gra­tion for the build­ing was exten­sive and includes a col­lec­tion of per­ma­nent instal­la­tions com­mis­sioned by the City of Chica­go and curat­ed by Theast­er Gates. 

Chicago’s com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­i­ty was fun­da­men­tal. The new Ter­mi­nal is antic­i­pat­ed to remove approx­i­mate­ly 1.3 mil­lion vehi­cles from the cen­tral ter­mi­nal road­ways, reduc­ing traf­fic and car­bon diox­ide emis­sions. The project is expect­ed to receive LEED Sil­ver Certification.

Amidst the stress and chaos asso­ci­at­ed with trav­el, the Mul­ti­modal Ter­mi­nal is a place of calm and beauty. 

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The soar­ing, sun filled ter­mi­nal is a wel­com­ing and con­ve­nient gate­way to Chica­go for mil­lions of arriv­ing vis­i­tors. An auto­mat­ed train con­nects direct­ly to the Ter­mi­nals with a sta­tion on the sec­ond lev­el and with shut­tle bus­es at the ground level. 

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The five lev­el pre­cast con­crete park­ing struc­ture con­tains a con­sol­i­dat­ed rental car cen­ter (CON­RAC) with: 

  • 4,500 ready/​return car capac­i­ty serv­ing 13 rental car companies;
  • a mul­ti-lev­el quick-turn-around fuel­ing and wash facil­i­ty (QTA);
  • pub­lic park­ing for 2,600 cars.
1 CONRAC Axon Section

Two court­yards plant­ed with ever­green and decid­u­ous trees punc­tu­ate a sea of park­ing; act­ing as visu­al land­marks. These wayfind­ing tools pro­vide respite, ven­ti­la­tion, and a con­nec­tion to the inte­ri­or light-filled atri­ums that pull pas­sen­gers through the building.

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Palimpset by Nick Cave

Palimpsest by Nick Cave, is a vast, mul­ti­sto­ry tapes­try, bead­ed and bus­tled, that reveals lay­ers and lay­ers of col­or, like an old bill­board that over time, weath­ers, and reveals the his­to­ry beneath.

Hori­zon Light by James Car­pen­ter evokes flight, trav­el and time with an array of col­or-anodized ellipses with pro­grammed light­ing that recalls the expe­ri­ence of arrival and depar­ture, and the cycles of light from dawn to dusk.

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Horizon Light by James Carpenter

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Field Lines by Rob Ley

Field Lines by Rob Ley is a paint­ed alu­minum 294’ W x 25’ H x 2.5’ D work. Vis­i­tor are greet­ed by a rep­re­sen­ta­tion of dynam­ic air cur­rents that oscil­late between sta­ble and tur­bu­lent con­di­tions that often impact air travel.

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