Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport: A Modern Marvel

Skimore, Owings & Merrill LLP's Innovative Design Celebrates Tradition and Modernity

The inspiration behind the design of Terminal 2 Building at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the traditional Indian pavilions. The four-story terminal stacks a grand central processing podium on top of highly adaptable and modular concourses below. The terminal's design celebrates Mumbai's new global, high-tech identity while subtly integrating regional patterns and textures into its architecture.

What sets this design apart is its long-span roof covering a total of 70,000 m2, one of the largest roofs in the world without an expansion joint. The Terminal also includes the largest and longest cable wall system in the world. The building, standing 45 meters tall, adds 4.4 million square feet of space to accommodate 40 million passengers per year, asserting the airport’s place as a preeminent gateway to India.

The project was completed in 2014 in Mumbai, India, and it makes a significant positive contribution to the local fabric of the city. By integrating into the existing transportation fabric and by furthering connectivity through the simultaneous development of a new road network to service the airport, the terminal helps knit together the historic heart of Mumbai to the south with the city’s burgeoning peripheries to the east and north.

Despite the challenges of constructing the new terminal building in close proximity to the existing terminal, which had to remain fully operational during construction, the design team managed to incorporate modular designs to accommodate rapid and phased construction. The elongated X-shape plan of the terminal could both mold around existing structures and accommodate these requirements.

The design of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was recognized with a Platinum A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2015. This award recognizes world-class, exceptional, and highly innovative designs that showcase unmatched professionalism, genius, and contribute to societal wellbeing.