A groundbreaking was held for the first concourse of the massive expansion of O’Hare International Airport, now known as ORDNext. The ceremony was attended by local officials and comes after months of site prep work ahead of foundation work. With this, also came a new timeline for the project that differs from the last time we covered the project.
Rendering of Concourse D by SOM, Ross Barney, Arup, and JGMA
The new structure, now officially known as Concourse D, is being designed by a team made up of SOM, Ross Barney Architects, Arup, and JGMA. Concourse D will bring 580,000 square-feet of space just west of the existing Concourse C, which will be the main point of access at the moment until the Global Terminal is complete.
Airfield reconfiguration diagram via City of Chicago. Building footprints do not reflect final designs
Rendering of Concourse D by SOM, Ross Barney, Arup, and JGMA
A 65-foot long glass skybridge will connect the two, leading to a round two-story central hall lined by shops, restaurants, play spaces, and plant-filled seating. There will also be added lounge space on the second floor. This will all be illuminated by a central oculus, taking inspiration from O’Hare’s Rotunda building.
Rendering of Concourse D by SOM, Ross Barney, Arup, and JGMA
The rest of the concourse will feature tree-like columns with an elevated walkway connecting to a future Customs facility. It will add 19 new gates with Multiple Aircraft Ramp Systems (MARS), meaning each gate can serve various aircraft types to improve flexibility and efficiency. This will be used to create the nation’s first domestic-international codeshare concourse.
Rendering of Concourse D by SOM, Ross Barney, Arup, and JGMA
The building will take inspiration from the rivers that flow across the midwest with soft lines, wood tones, and clear sightlines. It will also include a new ramp control tower on the western side. Concourse D will cost $1.3 billion to complete along with a new cooling plant, both built by AECOM, Hunt, Clayco, and Bowa construction. With a completion date of late 2028.
Rendering of Concourse D by SOM, Ross Barney, Arup, and JGMA
A correction has been issued: Though previously shown on the ORDNext website at the time of writing and on a press release, the timeline of what will be built after Concourse D is unconfirmed. However, the ORDNext site currently states, “plans in place to build a second satellite concourse west of The New Concourse D after its completion in 2028.” at the time of this correction.
More details have been revealed for what will now be known as Concourse E, this will bring 464,000 square-feet of space along with 24 new gates aimed at domestic flights and those from pre-clearance nations like Canada and Ireland. It will be connected to Concourse D via an underground walkway.
Rendering of Concourse D by SOM, Ross Barney, Arup, and JGMA
The Global Terminal itself will completed by 2032, we can expect work on this to commence after both concourses are done and flights can be relocated from Terminal Two. It is worth noting, this all comes after a lengthy legal battle between American, United, and CDA over gate allocations within Terminal Two. An updated project website can be found here.
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Six years delayed and counting…This expansion cannot come soon enough. Glad they are building D + E together. Looks very nice. Hopefully Studio Gang is still part of the project. Love that they included Ross Barney. Good team, so now just get it done!
The paragraph talking about Concourse E mentions, “[i]t will be connected to Concourse E via an underground walkway.”
Is it supposed to say connected to D or E connected to E? Guess it wouldn’t make sense otherwise.
A couple thoughts:
Honestly hilarious that they’re finally pivoting off the ORD21 name considering they’re only breaking ground five years after that.
It’s going to be a hike to get to Concourse E before the new Terminal 2 is complete. At least a 15 minute walk from security (maybe more?).
Does anyone know the long term plan for which airlines are in which concourses? Is the idea that D and E will be more United territory? Or is it just going to be less defined than it is now?
They mention Ireland and Canada as destinations that can use the new concourses. That’s not exclusively United… but would be interesting to see more international not in the International Terminal.
It was getting quite annoying to have Terminal 5 infiltrated by families on their way to Disney. Southwest in International will be my one snobbish upset.
Eventually the global terminal will be shared, the concourses will most likely be a bit mixed as well. No confirmation.
My understanding from when they first announced the expansion was that terminal 1 would remain United / Star Alliance, terminal 3 would be American / One World, the new International gateway would be primarily those airlines, and terminal 5 would be Delta / Sky Team and the unaffiliated airlines. The idea was to make international to domestic connections on United and American more efficient. I think someone did the math and realized they have to replace 41 gates when they bulldoze terminal 2, so that’s why the two satellite concourses will be built before the new international terminal.
I wish Foster would have won the bid for the global terminal. I think his design was the most dramatic and inspirational. Architecture here has become quite insular.
As much as I love highways, what are the chances we can get an article summarizing the major road projects that surround O’Hare?
I struggle to find all the details of the roads around and their progress. As a major transit hub, I think they fit into YIMBY parameters.