Indira Ghandi International Airport is the second busiest airport in India serving 20 million passengers per year. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) set out a new master plan in 2007 to develop 230 acres of land adjacent to the airport in order to create a main gateway to India and a second metropolitan center for Delhi, strategically located between Central Business District and Gurgaon.
The DIAL master plan, called Worldmark Development will combine world class airport and commercial facilities creating an important new public space for the city. The first phase will be predominantly hotels the ‘hospitality district’ with KPF designing the only commercial offices in this phase.
Considering the master plan as a whole and the three distinct sites – located on a primary east/west traffic route – KPF’s design uses the public space between the buildings and the built forms to achieve a sense of coherence. The north/south pedestrian access will create the opportunity for a variety of public uses and amenities with nuanced elevational changes between the sunken plaza, the ground level road access and the metro.
This public space is further augmented by the alignment of the three commercial buildings. Set-backs and building articulations frame the central plaza space while the symmetry of the forms, accentuated in the massing and the overarching roof elements, capture and embrace. Grand atriums within each building front the central space, seamlessly extending the external to the internal and emphasizing the uniqueness of the central plaza.
