St. Louis-based HOK's approach to the design for the Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport included recycled and locally sourced materials, as well as a closer look at how to mitigate the as-yet unavoidably toxic aspects of the airline industry.
An aerial view of the new Indianapolis International Airport.
The design firm worked with Josef Gartner GmbH on the production of the glass curtain wall that encloses the ticket hall and baggage claim area on the two-story building. The system works to allow natural light into the building, while shading from a roof overhang helps to reduce glare and heat gain. Curtain wall Kawneer North America Aluminum storefront 451 curtain wall kawneer.com Roofing Wheeling Corrugating Co. Metal decking wheelingcorrugating.com Lighting Architectural Area Lighting Roof overhang lighting aal.net
The security area was designed to be larger than is required by current Transportation Services Administration guidelines. This anticipates future changes to security screening that might require more or larger equipment, and will allow the screening area to be expanded or reconfigured without infringing on the surrounding spaces. Wall finishes CL Coatings Interior Latex Paint nacoatings.comWall Board USG DensDeck, Type X gypsum board, abuse resistant board, glass-mat board usg.comWall Finishes Sobotec Limited Alucobond metal wall panels sobotec.com
HOK worked to use as many recycled and locally sourced materials as possible in the construction of the building’s structure and envelope. For example, Indiana limestone, used for portions of the exterior envelope at the baggage claim level, was quarried just 40 miles south. The firm estimates that more than 90 percent of the site and building materials come from within 500 miles of Indianapolis. Steelwork Alberici/Hillsdale Fabricators High roof trusses and tree columns alberici.comMasonry Majestic Block and Brick Limestone masonry majesticblockandbrick.comCurtain wall ASI Limited Unitized glazed curtain wall sections asilimited.com
The arrival and departure gates are located down the two arms of the building that extend back from the main concourse. Here, HOK looked at choosing materials with high recycled content—including carpeting and wood finishes. All adhesives, sealants, paints, and coatings are low VOC. Area Lighting Pinnacle Architectural Lighting Recessed and suspended fluorescent fixtures pinnacle-ltg.comArt Glass BGT Bischoff Glastechnik AG Custom laminated fritte glass bgt-bretten.deSeating Herman Miller Eames Tandem Sling Seating hermanmiller.com
Topped by a 230-foot-diameter skylight, the civic plaza is a central space where visitors can pass time at the airport before going through security. It is heated and cooled by a radiant floor system that limits the amount of energy needed to keep the users comfortable in the vast space. HOK expects the natural convection system to save 21 percent more energy than dictated by ASHRAE standards. Skylight Supersky Insulated skylights supersky.comLighting Syska Hennessey Group Civic plaza lighting syska.comLighting Hess America Pole lights in civic plaza hessamerica.comHandrails Livers Bronze Co. Custom glass railings liversbronze.com
The baggage claim area is located on the lower level of the two-story main volume, underneath the ticketing hall. The space is bordered on three sides by glass, allowing daylight to permeate the space, and offering views to adjacent landscaped areas. Downlights Edison Price Lighting Compact fluorescent and ceramic metal halide downlights epl.comCeilings Perry Acoustics Co. Public area metal ceilings
