Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport

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Sam Fentress

St. Louis-based HOK's approach to the design for the Colonel H. … Read More 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.

Sam Fentress

An aerial view of the new Indianapolis International Airport.

Sam Fentress

The design firm worked with Josef Gartner GmbH on the production… Read More 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

Sam Fentress

The security area was designed to be larger than is required by … Read More 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

Sam Fentress

HOK worked to use as many recycled and locally sourced materials… Read More 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

Sam Fentress

The arrival and departure gates are located down the two arms of… Read More 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

Sam Fentress

Topped by a 230-foot-diameter skylight, the civic plaza is a cen… Read More 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

Sam Fentress

The baggage claim area is located on the lower level of the two-… Read More 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

Courtesy HOK

Courtesy HOK

Courtesy HOK

Courtesy HOK

Courtesy HOK

The average American businessperson’s carbon footprint is made far larger by air travel than by a daily car commute, so the idea of an eco-friendly airport is hard to imagine. But the new Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport, designed by HOK, promises to be one of the first LEED-certified facilities of its type.

“This is out of category for USGBC,” says HOK designer Ripley Rasmus—noting the difficulties of a greenfield airport whose site work includes enormous stretches of taxiway and tarmac. But the mitigation of the complex’s environmental impact starts with its location. The terminal’s opening late last year completed a 25-year master plan that replaced an uninspired utilitarian complex at the east end of the runways with this new midfield terminal—located at the center of the two parallel main runways. It’s estimated that airlines will save $1 million in jet fuel this first year because of shorter taxiing patterns. Demolished taxiways and roadways produced 7,000 tons of materials that were recycled as site fill.

The 1.2-million-square-foot terminal has a central arrival and departure structure with two gently curving concourse wings that hold 40 enclosed-jetway gates. The main building is topped by an undulating roof whose broad sweep creates generous spaces below. The ticketing hall leads to the civic plaza—a public space that allows visitors to shop, eat, and watch planes take off. Between the civic plaza and the concourses are passenger screening facilities that are large enough to be reconfigured to accommodate future security developments, a legacy of the terminal’s post-9/11 design.

“The design was material-, not product-, driven,” says Rasmus—who contrasts this approach to “the typical American model—put up a shed and slap materials on it.” The high-performance curtain wall that encloses the building was custom designed by HOK and manufactured by Josef Gartner GmbH. Recycled materials form most major construction items, notably the steel structure and concrete for the building’s foundations. HOK also devised methods to mitigate the environmental effects of some of the unavoidably toxic aspects of airport operation. Glycol—an essential ingredient in deicing mixtures­—runs off into apron areas that have been designed to collect, filter, and recycle these compounds.

This new terminal may be in a LEED category of its own, but it creates an iconic destination for travelers to this Midwestern capital city while proving that it’s possible to decrease the airline industry’s environmental footprint.

Project Col. J. Weir Cook Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport
Location Indianapolis
Client Indianapolis Airport Authority
Architect HOK, St. Louis—Ripley Rasmus, Mark Askew, John Brocato, Leesa Coller, Chip Crawford, Dennis Gillespie, Tom Kaczkowski, Terry Mattison, Ali Moghaddasi, Richard Powers, Bill Valentine, Dhaval Barbhaya, Edward Chan, Robert Chicas, Jeff Davis, Clark Davis, Paul Donnelly, Neil Eisenberger, Tim Gaidis, Sara Graham, Valerie Greer, Julie Maggos, Andrew Kilmer, Laura Linn, Craig Menn, Derek Prior, Arthur Ramirez, Jeff Ryan, Matt Snelling, Kyle St. Peter, Richard Tell, John Vogt, David Ziolkowski (project team)
General Contractor Hunt Construction Group
Program Manager Aviation Capital Management
Structural Engineer Thornton Tomasetti Group
Environmental RLR Associates
MEP Engineers Syska and Hennessy Group
Associate Architects BSA LifeStructures;ARCHonsortium
Collaborating Architect Aero Design Group
Environmental Engineering Shrewsberry & Associates
Baggage/Handling BNP Associates
Cost Estimating U.S. Cost
Lead Airside/Civil CM Turner Construction Co.
Steel Fabrication Alberici Construction
Code Consulting Code Consultants
Curtain wall Advanced Structures Inc.
Energy/Sustainable Design Architectural Energy Corp.
Associate CM Smoot Construction; Powers and Sons
Associate Airside/Civil CM Trotter Construction Co.; Shiel Sexton
Airside Planning & Design RW Armstrong
Lighting Design HOK Lighting Group
Terminal Consultant TransSolutions
Airport Planning Aerofinity
Size 1.2 million square feet

Structure

Structural steel and steel framing
Cives Steel Co.
cives.com

High roof trusses and tree columns
Alberici/Hillsdale Fabricators
alberici.com

Cast-in-place concrete
A2S04
a2so4.com

Metal decking
Wheeling Corrugating Co.
wheelingcorrugating.com

Roof

Terminal roof joists
Canam
canam-steeljoists.ws

Ticket hall and civic plaza acoustical roof deck
United Steel Deck/Nicholas J. Bouras Inc.
njb-united.com

Glazing and Windows

Insulated glass units
BGT Bischoff Glastechnik AG
bgt-bretten.de

Custom laminated fritte glass
BGT Bischoff Glastechnik AG
bgt-bretten.de

Unitized glazed curtainwall sections
ASI Limited
asilimited.com

Aluminum storefront 451 curtain wall
Kawneer North America
kawneer.com

Insulated skylights
Supersky
supersky.com

Curtain wall system insulated glazing units
Viracon
viracon.com

Masonry

Limestone masonry
Majestic Block and Brick
majesticblockandbrick.com

Veneer limestone
Evans Limestone Co.
evanslimestone.com

Finishes

Precast concrete panels with aluminum and steel accents
A2S04
a2so4.com

Alucobond metal wall panels
Sobotec Limited
sobotec.com

Metal wall panels
Trespa
trespa.com

Custom glass railings
Livers Bronze Co.
liversbronze.com

Miscellaneous metals
F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co.
fawilhelm.com

Paints and wallcoverings
CL Coatings
nacoatings.com

DensDeck, Type X gypsum board, abuse resistant board, glass-mat board
USG
usg.com

Interior composite metal panels, phenolic wall panels, custom handrails
Spohn Associates
spohnassociates.com

Ornamental metals
Metal Arts
metalarts.net

Doors

Custom DuraGlide automatic doors
Stanley Works
stanleyworks.com

PC-5 quarter-sawn cherry prefinished doors
Eggers Industries
eggersindustries.com

Wood doors, door hardware, steel doors and frames
Mulhaupt’s
mulhaupts.com

Ceilings

300C Linear Plank long span design for interior and exterior ceilings
Hunter Douglas Contract
hunterdouglascontract.com

Public area metal ceilings
Perry Acoustics Co.

Safety and Communications

Paging and fire alarm systems
ERMCO Electrical & Communications Contractor
ermco.com

Furniture

Eames Tandem Sling Seating
Herman Miller
hermanmiller.com

Vertical Transport

Traction elevator, hydraulic elevator, hydraulic freights, autowalks, escalators
Kone Corp.
kone.com

Lighting

Civic plaza lighting
Syska Hennessey Group
syska.com

Ceramic metal halide indirect lighting, semi-recessed wall washers
Ametrix Lighting
ametrixlighting.com

Ticket hall counter fixtures
NeoRay-Lighting
neoray-lighting.com

Pole lights
Hess America
hessamerica.com

Recessed and suspended fluorescent fixtures
Pinnacle Architectural Lighting
pinnacle-ltg.com

Compact fluorescent and ceramic metal halide downlights
Edison Price Lighting
epl.com

Accent lighting for art program
Zumtobel
zumtobel.us

Accent lighting for art program
RSA Lighting
rsalighting.com

Roof overhang lighting
Architectural Area Lighting
aal.net