Mumbai airport’s new roof with a view

The roof of new terminal at the airport is made of 18,000 metric tonnes of steel.

When American television host and architecture expert Danny Forster, featured the upcoming X-shaped airport terminal at Sahar in his popular show Build it Bigger, in April, the terminal’s colossal roof stole the limelight.

HT Image

Very few airports in India and Asia can boast a roof the size of 10 football fields. “Airports are massive roofs under which people and luggage move. The architects have designed the terminal to accommodate this tradition,” Forster wrote on his website.

The roof of the airport’s new terminal is made of 18,000 metric tonnes of structural steel, enough for two Eiffel Towers. “One can’t hold its expanse in one glance unless one is at least 200m away from it,” said a Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson.

The terminal is scheduled to open in 2014. Although a four-storey structure, the terminal has been designed in such a way that even passengers at the bottom level – the check-in area – will get a clear glimpse of the roof.

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), the lead architects for the terminal, have designed iconic structures like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (world’s tallest building). They have maintained their fascination for tall structures with the terminal’s roof at 50 feet.

Hundreds of lights and lenses fixed on the roof will ensure optimal use of natural light. “The natural light streaming through the Dichroic lenses in the ceiling will filter it into various shades, reflecting colours of the peacock’s feathers onto the check-in area floor,” MIAL said.

“The new terminal should put India on a par with most international airports. It will make a powerful statement, architecturally speaking. The high ceilings, acres of column-free space and sheer technological chutzpah resemble the massive cathedrals in Europe,” said BS Keshav, dean, (administration), Aayojan School of Architecture in Jaipur.