Salt Lake City International Airport Passenger Terminal

Salt Lake City International Airport’s passenger terminal replaces three aging mid-century terminals with a multiphase facility sized for growing passenger volumes and regional identity. HOK’s design places a 909,000-square-foot central terminal on the prior footprint, flanked by linear Concourse A (about 3,700 feet) and Concourse B (about 3,400 feet). The HOK project page reports an overall size of 2.6 million square feet. Phase one delivered 45 gates; when complete the airport is planned for 94 gates and capacity for 34 million passengers per year.

Fifty-foot floor-to-ceiling glass walls bring daylight into the terminal and frame views of the airfield and the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains. At the core, “The Canyon” atrium spans roughly a football field and concentrates security, shopping, and dining beneath Gordon Huether’s 362-foot installation of more than 520 tensile membrane fins. HOK’s Experience Design team developed branding and wayfinding that express Utah’s outdoor character, reinforced by local retail and dining, a ski drop, and a 400-person pre-security greeting room.

The River Tunnel—a 1,175-foot underground pedestrian link—connects the concourses with sculptural elements, blue lighting, and curated sound. A relocated Utah Transit Authority light rail station sits beside the entrance; HOK designed the station canopies and related site work. As master engineer, HOK addressed mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, IT, and security systems, organizing the complex as 29 structurally independent buildings to manage seismic risk near the Wasatch Fault and seasonal thermal movement.

LEED-NC Gold certification (Terminal Redevelopment Program and Concourse B-West) reflects high-performance glazing, daylighting, and efficient mechanical and lighting systems. Phase one opened in 2020 as Utah’s largest public works project at the time; later phases continued through 2024–2025, with remaining gates and bus operations scheduled for October 2026.