Mumbai: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the globally renowned London-based firm, has been appointed to design Terminal 1 and the Air Traffic Control Tower for the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport.
GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (NMIAL) made the announcement today, adding that ZHA had been selected following the completion of a challenging and intensive 12-week fast-track design competition amongst the best international architectural firms shortlisted by GVK.
Established in 1979 by Zaha Hadid (October 1950-March 31, 2016), an Iraqi-British architect who became the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, ZHA is known for its dynamic, innovative and iconic architecture, with a portfolio of over 950 projects spread across 44 countries.
The firm designed Beijing’s new Daxing airport terminal. Their other landmark projects include the Olympic Aquatics Centre in London, the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan, the MAXXI Contemporary Arts Centre in Rome, the Guangzhou Opera House in China, Al Wakrah Stadium for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and many more.
This will be ZHA’s first major project on the Indian sub-continent. Commenting on the occasion, Dr G.V.K. Reddy, founder and chairman of GVK and chairman of NMIAL, said, “Our vision is to establish one more landmark airport that would exceed the benchmarks that GVK had set through MIAL whilst creating Terminal 2 at Mumbai airport. We are committed towards bring the best global practices from the industry to design, engineer and build this most awaited airport project in India and hence we decided to go with ZHA, a firm known for its path-breaking and remarkable architecture. It also has the expertise of delivering a world-class airport design through a highly professional team.”
NMIAL is a public-private partnership venture in which GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has a 74 per cent stake with CIDCO, the nodal agency of the Government of Maharashtra, holding the remaining 26 per cent.
MIAL was declared the winning bidder for the Greenfield international airport that will be built on 1,160 hectares in phases and will eventually cater to 60 million passengers per year. The initial concession period is 30 years from the appointed date which is extendable for a further 10 years.
