North Concourse: Mineta San Jose International Airport in Silicon Valley, United States

December 15, 2010 Category: Airports, Urban Design

Designed by Gensler, North Concourse: Mineta San Jose International Airpor is located in Silicon Valley, United States. The master plan for the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport called for a new central terminal, concourse, parking facilities and roadway system to serve air travelers in the future. The master plan will be realised in phases, with phase one being the north half of the new concourse, hence the name, The North Concourse. The phase one North Concourse, 1,600 ft long with up to 11 gates, will expand to over 4000 ft long in future phases. Facilities for ticketing, passenger security check, and bag claim will be temporarily housed in the North Concourse until the future Central terminal is built, when they will be relocated there.

Expressing the airport’s role as The Gateway to Silicon Valley, the front façade of the building combines an asymmetrical roof form hovering over sail shaped screens that can accept electronically projected images, expressive of the technological innovation of the area. During the day, the curving shapes of these screens will catch differing angles of light as the sun moves across the sky creating an ever changing, shimmering image form the freeway and approach to the airport.

North Concourse Mineta San Jose International Airport design by Gensler