Located southwest of Hyderabad, one of the fastest growing and largest metropolitan areas in India, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport played a key role in the movement of passengers and freight. In response to the city’s economic development and heavy increase in air traffic, the airport needed new infrastructure to accommodate its higher demand.

Appointed to provide multi-disciplinary engineering services, we led the design of a new 100,000m² passenger terminal as well as other key infrastructure, such as a runway and an air traffic control tower. Hosting an additional five million passengers per year, the new building consists of a five-level reinforced concrete frame supported on pad foundations, and a 45-m long structural steelwork roof. Its lightweight fabric roof structure, which covers the pick-up and drop-off areas, gives the airport its distinctive visual identity.

Aside from its aesthetic design, the expansion features the longest runway in the country. With a total length of 4,430-metre, this not only allows it to accommodate larger aircraft, but also provides more room for take-off and landing, improving safety margins. Conceived with the future in mind, the terminal was designed to enable a future expansion of over 40 million passengers annually, and it was the first of its kind in the country to gain LEED accreditation – which is awarded to green buildings in recognition of their sustainability credentials.