• Posted: March 28, 2019
• better construction

The city has picked a hometown firm, a group headed by Chicago architect Jeanne Gang, to be lead designer on the huge new global terminal at O’Hare International Airport.

Studio ORD, which includes Gang’s Studio Gang and several other prominent firms, will be in charge of designing the 2.2 million-square-foot facility, which will be the centerpiece of an overall $8.5 million terminal expansion and modernization plan.

Studio ORD beat out several other major design teams, including ones that included famed international designer Santiago Calatrava and Chicago’s Skidmore Owings & Merrill.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel wanted a design that said “wow!”—something that would reposition an aging O’Hare to the world—and, arguably, he got it with the Studio ORD design. It features sweeping vistas with soaring roofs, lots of inside greenery and, unique in the competition, extensive use of natural wood.

City Chief Procurement Officer Shannon Andrews, in a statement, said Studio ORD scored highest in a competition that rated firms on not only their designs but also on their ability to meet budget and schedule requirements, as well as local participation.

The city has refused to say who was on the selection committee, causing quite a bit of controversy, but said today that it included people with experience at working at more than 100 airports.

The city wants to break ground on the $2.2 billion facility in 2023.

Notably, the city did not yet name a designer for a smaller prize: an architect to work with Gang and build satellite terminals to the west of the existing Terminal 1. Officials said only, “In the coming months, a second team will be selected from the remaining four finalists” for that work.

In its statement, the city says it hopes the new terminal, which will replace the existing Terminal 2, “will elevate the travel experience for more than 83 million passengers relying upon O’Hare every year, and will create tens of thousands of jobs.” The facility will be more than twice as large as Terminal 2 now and allow O’Hare’s main carriers to locate their international flights near connecting domestic operations. That means flyers no longer would have to land at the current Terminal 5 and make their way to the other end of the airport.

The city underlined that all costs will be paid by airlines and their passengers, not Chicago taxpayers.

The statement announcing the winner included comments from the CEOs of O’Hare’s largest users: United Airlines’ Oscar Munoz, who called the winning proposal “a vision for a modern O’Hare,” and American Airlines’ Doug Parker, who said his carrier appreciates “the thoughtful approach our partners at the city of Chicago brought to this process.”

Though Studio ORD has been tapped as the winner of the design competition, it is not yet guaranteed the project.  Says the statement, the city “will now enter into contract negotiations with Studio ORD,” and only after that process is done will work begin.

Emanuel has hoped to have an architect signed, sealed and delivered before he leaves office in May. But it’s not immediately clear whether he can do that and have it approved by the City Council in the next weeks, or whether a final approval will be left to the new mayor and City Council.

The city says the winner will have to meet the city’s goal that at least 30 percent of work on the project be handled by minority- and women-owned firms.

Besides Gang’s firm, the winning team includes Corgan; Milhouse Engineering & Construction; STL Architects; and Solomon Cordwell Buenz.

Gang is probably best known for her design of the Aqua residential tower in Lakeshore East, as well as the under-construction Vista Tower. She also was involved in the design for the proposed Lucas Museum here, which is being built in Los Angeles instead.