A Spanish-Mexican consortium has been chosen to build a $4.1bn mega-terminal at Mexico City’s international airport project.
The team will include Mexican companies Grupo Carso, GIA, Prodemex, La Peninsular and ICA, as well as Spanish firms Acconia and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas. The dominant figure in the scheme is Carlos Slim, the billionaire Mexican industrialist, and the founder of Grupo Carso.
The terminal will have 743,000 square metres of floor area over four levels, and will be able to serve 68 million passengers a year. It will be connected to six runways with "triple simultaneous" operations, meaning that three of them can by in use at the same time. This will make Mexico City one of the first to use this system outside of the EU.
In future, it is envisaged that three runways will be added, allowing 120 million passengers to be processed a year. The world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, dealt with 101 million people in 2015.
The building will be based on an X-shaped design created by British architect Foster + Partners, Mexico’s Fernando Romero Enterprises, run by the son-in-law of Slim, and Netherlands Airport Consultants.
The terminal is distinguished by the lightweight modular mesh membrane that will forms the walls and the roof; it will also be supported by 21 funnel-shaped columns. The building will be sustainable and aims to have LEED platinum-level certification and a neutral carbon footprint.
The project will be based in Texcoco, 25km northeast of Mexico City. It will include large-scale hydraulic works, including 24 water treatment plants and 25km of open drainage to reduce health risks and increase the availability of clean water.
Green areas will be created alongside the project, including a 670ha "Metropolitan Forest". In addition, wetlands will be formed to protect biodiversity and reduce the impact of noise pollution.
It was announced in 2015 that US-based firms Parsons and CH2M had been awarded a role on the project.
Images via Acconia
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