Expertise > Structural Design > Institutional >

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport – Terminal Building

The new 51,000 sq. m., $350M Air Terminal Building is a state of the art facility whose design is described as “a series of transparent luminous pavilions designed to take full advantage of the prairie horizon and sky.”

The construction of the new facility incorporates sustainable design principles and strategies intended to reduce its environmental impact. It is the first airport in Canada and one of few in North America with LEED Silver certification.

Key design features of the facility include; a two storey high open central baggage claim hall with a unique skylight system which creates a ‘constellation’ effect,  16 metre high exterior glazing designed to harvest the natural light and views and the buildings soaring  15.0 metre long  ‘wing- like’ cantilevered roof system.

The building structure is a hybrid of cast-in-place reinforced concrete for the lower base with a structural steel frame with a composite steel and concrete floor structure for the upper super-structure. Notable structural features include long spans , heavy floor loading capacities for storage, baggage handling equipment and airline ‘tugs’, complex steel support grillage for the exterior glazing system ,the customized 15.0 metre long tapered cantilevered steel roof system and the interior and exterior elevated pedestrian skywalks systems.