"Atlanta Airport Officials Pick Design Firm for International Terminal"

Thursday, October 3, 2002

Atlanta Airport Officials Pick Design Firm for International Terminal
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution


A team led by Omaha, Neb.-based architecture firm Leo A Daly is poised
to win a coveted $38 million contract to design the planned
international terminal for Hartsfield International Airport. 

Daly managed the design of the new terminal at Reagan National Airport
in Washington, among many other projects. 

No drawings have been made yet. 

"We haven't put a single pencil to paper, but we expect to get a notice
to proceed in November and will start immediately," said Leo A Daly's
Keith Mawson, chairman of the joint venture. He said a design should be
done within two years.

Hartsfield management chose Daly and is seeking a thumbs-up from the
City Council and Mayor Shirley Franklin. The council's transportation
committee considered the contract Wednesday, and there appear to be no
obstacles. 

The new terminal would open in 2006, next to the international gate
concourse that opened in 1994. It is part of the Hartsfield's master
expansion plan that also includes a fifth runway. 

Six teams, including the country's three biggest architecture and
engineering firms, competed for the contract. The airport chose Daly
based on its experience and design philosophy, said Ben DeCosta,
Hartsfield's general manager. 

"We asked them not to try to wow us with table models and things,"
DeCosta said. "A model can't tell you what a customer's experience is
going to be."

The designers' challenge is to combine beauty and functionality, Mawson
said. 

"You don't need something that gets into architectural magazines but is
confusing or unpleasant for the customers."

At the same time, the terminal should have an impressive entrance and
other memorable elements, such as Reagan National's vaulted main
terminal or its distinctive control tower, Mawson said. The Reagan
National terminal was conceived by Cesar Pelli & Associates, but Daly
developed the design and managed the project. 

For the Hartsfield project, Daly has joined with two other architecture
firms, Gensler and Stevens & Wilkinson. Also part of the venture are
three Atlanta-based, minority-owned companies: Khafra Engineering
Consultants, Browder & Leguizamon & Associates, and Anthony C. Baker
Architects & Planners. 

The 871,000-square-foot terminal will be on the east side of the
airport. The west terminal will remain open. 

The new one is intended to streamline arrivals for international
passengers, who now go through a time-consuming process to get to the
west-side terminal on the other side of the airport. 

Also at Wednesday's committee meeting, some members expressed concern
about escalating costs for certain site preparation work on the fifth
runway. Thalle Construction/Artis Group has the contract to work on
drainage and sewers, and -- for the second time -- is asking for more
money for the project. 

DeCosta said the contractor had discovered problems with underground
rock that greatly increased the cost. The committee plans a work session
Friday to delve into the issue. 

Transportation Committee Chairman H. Lamar Willis said he is concerned
that the estimated costs were now nearly double the original winning bid
of $17.8 million because of change orders and modifications to the
contract. 

"Mr. DeCosta tells me he has a good explanation, and it had better be a
very good one," Willis said. 

The committee also OK'd $1.68 million for upgrades to the restrooms at
Hartsfield.


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