I know, I know. I often criticize designs. But in all honest, I try to hold back as I know that what is shown on paper doesn't always translate well. Sometimes you are surprised by how successful (or unsuccessful) a design is after it is built.
So I was going to cut the guy some slack. I thought, "well, maybe he knows something we don't." Then I read this quote:
"The distance between the ticket counters, security checkpoints and the gates is currently unmeasured..."
Currently unmeasured? Are you kidding me? The drawings have been out for years. The building is two months from substantial completion. The distance is very real and very measurable.
I'm thinking this joker hasn't seen the drawings nor been on a tour! As my friend Mike says, "He's a Negative Nancy." He doesn't like change. He knows how to get to his favorite parking lot and he doesn't want to learn something new. And that's just sad.
Plus his taste is questionable as he grouped the beauty of Union Station downtown with that of the current terminal.
I'm hoping to see the Indianapolis Airport Authority write a letter to the editor in reply, because I went on a tour recently, and the new airport terminal is infinitely more beautiful than the current terminal. From a security standpoint, it is far safer, being the first new terminal to be designed and opened in the post-9/11 world. And from a travelers point of view, it will be easier to use as well.
But enough about his opinion. Let's go to the airport!
Because of the layout of the airport's runways, and that the current terminal is landlocked and unable to be expanded, the new terminal is located in the middle of the property, which is only accessible from the southwest. This does mean a drive two miles further down I-70 to the new airport interchange. But once off, everything is laid out to eliminate confusion for the driver. Decision points, currently clustered together in a confusing mess, is spread out.
Driving on the new access drives, you pass the airport's new control tower, one of the tallest in the country.
The long term lot comes first, followed by the parking garage, which also houses all of the rental car facilities in it's ground floor. No more shuttle buses.
The terminal is separated from the garage by a lawn, which is a security feature. But it also prevents the garage from hiding the face of the new terminal. And it is very open, allowing natural light to both the arrivals and departures drives.
After being dropped off at the upper level, you enter into the ticket hall. It is open and airy. And full of natural light. In all of these pictures, I did not use a flash, nor was there any artificial light.
The ticket counters run perpendicular to the direction of movement from the entrance to the concourse. For business travelers without luggage or those who print their tickets from home, there is no need to stop. Just keep moving forward.
If you do need to stop at the ticket counter, they are located to your left and right. And there is plenty of space for them.
Again, skylights galore. This is a very inviting space.
Straight ahead is the civic plaza, the center of the entire terminal as well as the main commercial component.
The civic plaza comes before the security checkpoint, so for those picking up or dropping off travellers, there is a convenient place to meet them. There is a huge curtain wall just for plane watching. For those who just want to watch airplanes take off and land or people watch, you can. That is no longer possible at our current terminal.
In the civic plaza, you take a right to go to concourse A and a left to go to concourse B. Two concourses, one place, no problem. (or maybe there will be a problem. It will depend on the layout of furniture and fixtures in this space, the location of signage, and many other details that I don't know anything about.)
In the civic plaza, the skylights create a lively space. Big, open, and bright. It is the opposite of the current terminal.
The glass is not completely opaque, though it seems to be. A lot of sunlight is blocked in order to keep down heat gain.
This is the space between the civic plaza and concourse A. There will be 11 security screeners. Per side. 22 screeners total.
If there is a wait in security (hey, even with 11 screeners, anything is possible), you can pass the time viewing the tarmac.
Past security, you enter the concourse. To the right is a half dozen gates, including the international gates, which is currently located in a separate building on the northside of the airport.
To the left is the other 14 gates. Is your gate at the other end of the concourse? No problem...
There are moving sidewalks to whisk you away!
From the concourse, you can see the civic plaza.
The other nice perk is that the concourses are connected. If your departure is from concourse A, but you want a sandwich from a shop in concourse B, you can go over there without going through security again.
When arriving in Indy, you will exit the concourses into the civic plaza where you can meet family, friends, or a quick bite to eat. Again, I have to say, this is going to be one of the coolest new spaces in Indianapolis.
At the ticket hall, you go down escalators or stairs to the baggage claim.
A view from below towards the ticket hall.
There are six very large baggage carousels located in close proximity to each other.
Along the front glass wall, there are light wells. Even in the lower level, there is plenty of natural light.
From the terminal, there is a pedestrian bridge that takes you to the garage, to the rental car facilities, the parking lot beyond, and the future hotel. All with plenty of moving sidewalks.
The connecting walkway between the terminal and garage as viewed from the outside.I'm going to hold off a long discussion on the aesthetics of the building and space until after it is finished. But from what I have seen so far, I think most people will be very pleasantly surprised. This will be a great gateway for Indianapolis.
As for the Negative Nancy, well you are right, you will "need to be patient and learn some new tricks." Because this will be a change from what you are used to. But change can be good.
The terminal will have "its own entrance off Interstate 70", so you won't have to fight with local traffic on High School Road. Or semi trucks heading to Fed Ex or other airport freight facilities. But the entrance isn't "strictly off I-70." You can reach the airport from Washington Street or Five Points Road. There are connections to other streets, not just I-70. No announcements have been made regarding how logistics will change.
"The current easy and fast access for pickups and drop-offs" will continue, as the drives come right up to the building. And there will be a cell phone lot, so you can wait, for free, until you receive a call from your arriving family member or friend that they have their luggage and are ready to be picked up.
The current gates "are short distances to the main terminal, ticket counters and retail establishments" and will continue to be so in the new terminal.
But just because "other midfield airports are a hassle" doesn't mean ours will be too. You point out that "the midfield terminal in Las Vegas requires a train trip, as do the terminals at Atlanta’s Hartsfield" without recognizing that there are no trains at all at the new terminal.
"Your journey to your gate in the new terminal will be much longer and less convenient. The old terminal, which could have been renovated, may go the fate of the Hoosier/RCA Dome. It’ll be sad to see it razed. Even Union Station’s still around for the memories." I bet this guy longs for Market Square Arena too.
20 comments:
Ha! Thanks for the great article and sneak peak. The IBJ article was obviously not well researched.
Difficult to imagine a conservative "change is bad" style of article out of the very conservative "change is bad" IBJ. /tongueincheek.
I agree that this is a much needed and overdue update to our airport terminal. It was a keystone element in our 2012 Super Bowl bid, which a renovated version of our current terminal would not have been adequate.
I would have liked to have seen master planning to include a station for our inevitable light rail mass transit. Think how long it has taken to complete the BART station at SFO...and all of the additional cost because BART wasn't built-in from the beginning.
Who made Tom Henderson the airport expert? It's hilarious he transfers his frustrations with the airport in Copenhagen to Indy. I too travel a lot both domestically and internationally and can't wait for the 'all in one' new terminal and what are supposed to be much shorter taxi times to the terminal after landing. Maybe Mr. Henderson needs to spend a little more time in his car.
But ditto to above regarding a light rail station. I lived in SF when there was no BART connection to SFO - life is so much easier now when I go and visit.
My tour guide mentioned something about that. I'll email him to see if anything has been set up for future light rail.
Very nice photo spread - the best I've seen to date.
The biggest concern I have is putting the terminal amenities outside of security. This is so counter to how every other airport in the United States works that I'm sure it is going to burn many travelers. It's ability to work is entirely predicated on their being no lines at security. Otherwise, people will be forced to go through and hang out in the concourse with nothing to do in order to avoid risking missing their flight.
I understand what you are saying. There will be several dining options past security...not all retail will be in the civic plaza.
But for those hanging out with family/friends before a flight, you are right, they may get burned if they lolligag for too long. They (the travellers) need to be logical about that stuff.
I don't really want to be known as the guy that says Negative Nancy.
I need a cooler catch phrase.
Too late you negative nancy.
I believe I read that there is space currently devoted to a light rail station. I believe I read this somewhere in an exit interview with the ex-mayor. Designers knew that the lightrail would be coming out so the airport was designed with this transportation option/expansion in mind.
If someone wants to substantiate this... I'd appreciate it too.
The location of the principal amenities is one where you've probably got one of two possible outcomes: the airport authority looks like prescient geniuses, or they look like a bunch of idiots. I've got to believe that this was something that was undertaken after significant consideration and due diligence. While I'm not yet sold on it myself and it is definitely a risky move, I give the airport authority big credit for being willing to make a gutsy stand on this one. You'll never have a chance at being a true leader if you take the safe, easy way out every time.
I'm gonna tour the airport on Friday, so this was a great preview. I was out there a few times last year for construction support, and I can't believe anyone would have a problem with the overall design of the airport. In today's world of necessary security checks, you will never eliminate the hassles involved with flying (so fly less), but it does look like they gave it a lot of thought. The new terminals are much better than the old ones. The auxiliary structures like the parking garage, fire department, cell-phone lot, etc. are light years ahead of the old ones. I love the use of tensile membranes and column trees, it's a great example of progressive design (and quite cost effective). Good post!
The other big event for the airport will be the cutover to the new terminal. After the LHR T5 fiasco, I hope they aren't taking this one lightly.
Urbano...I was told that substantial completion is scheduled for the end of July which gives them three months for training and preperations. So I don't think they are taking it lightly at all.
Graeme...you will be amazed! The lightness of the structure with the enormity of the space is truly amazing! And, I forgot to mention this, the whole thing is designed to be expanded!
El Fuser...I was thinking the same. I have an email out for clarification and if I get a response, I will share.
Loved reading this post -- thanks! I'm not an expert in terms in design, construction or the like, but I love to take it in. As a traveler, I simply cannot wait for this, I think it's beautiful. Our current airport feels so dark and in disarray. After years of living here and flying in and out of IND, when I'm not actually standing in the airport, I find myself without a clear picture of the place and how different parts fit into the whole. As I read the account of your tour, I thought of my likes/dislikes from other cities' airports - I think ours is going to be among the best. And yes, security will be different, it will be an adjustment. But no airport in the country right now has a truly functional security process, they were all retro-fitted on the fly post 9/11. Hopefully we'll all be amazed at how functional something becomes when it was built and designed for the specific purpose it's serving.
I am actually dumbfounded at how this project seems to be largely panned by many in the dev-blog community. This has a chance to be one of the truly high-class(if not world class) projects in the city, and best yet is the fact that it is the gateway for many to the City. I hope that things in the central city and elsewhere improve enough so that travelers are not let down after leaving our beautiful new airport.
From what I've heard, around October 25th will be the switchover from the old terminal to the new.
I think the location of the retail/commercial amenities is driven by two facts:
1. Indianapolis is not a hub like Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Memphis, and St. Louis, Pittsburgh. (Hmm. I think that leaves only Columbus and Milwaukee as sizeable mid-continent metros that are not air hubs for one or more airlines. And thank heaven...flying from here is cheaper as a result of not being under one airline's thumb.) What this means is that there are very few people making connections with layovers, mainly from Indiana's second-tier cities with regional commuter service. Therefore there is relatively little need for foodservice or shopping inside security.
2. Indianapolis seems to have more family drop-off and pick-up than many other cities I've visited. This is apparent at our current air terminal. Family and friends dropping off or picking up may be convinced to shop and dine.
Genius? Probably not. Probably just good ole Hoosier common sense.
Anon...you are correct.
SB...this will be an incredible front door/parlor/gateway into the city. Visitors who frequent Indy will be amazed, I think.
Kar...I can't go on enough about how much more secure the airport will be. And most of it the regular traveller won't even notice.
TM...good points on retail and food locations. I think you are dead on.
Still struggling to visualize how all of this will fit together, but heartened to read your praise. I do dread getting there - I've always taken 465, so I'm not sure how that will effect matters.
It will be fun to have a bigger airport if only because whenever i fly, I always overhear flight crew people describe our airport as "dinky".
A strong emphasis was also placed on art to decorate the terminal. It is my understanding that at the I-70 entrance there will be elaborate lanscaping which is meant to reflect the history of Indiana.
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