Unique garden landscape transforms passenger experience

A first-of-its-kind ‘airport terminal in a garden’ has opened in India, with a unique landscape designed by Tenderstream member Grant Associates in collaboration with SOM. Terminal 2 at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR Airport) has reinvented the idea of a traditionally stressful and bustling airport landscape, with a design that puts nature and biodiversity at the heart of the passenger experience. 

Reflecting Bengaluru City's global renown for its picturesque parks, the flora that adorns the terminal's interior includes 600-800 year-old-trees and over 180 rare, endangered and threatened species. Adding to the garden-like environment is the use of natural materials including bamboo cladding and local natural stone. Lush internal and external gardens punctuate the passenger's journey, with the centrepiece being a 10-metre-tall green wall running the length and breadth of the terminal, adorned with over 450 plant species. 

Grant Associates had to creatively overcome several sizeable challenges to make the biodiversity-focused vision a reality, including how to create an internal landscape whilst accommodating the day to day running of an airport, not least passenger circulation and environmental requirements. The airport's expansion, executed in two phases, encompasses 255,645 sq m, poised to accommodate up to 25 million passengers annually. 

The challenges were overcome with a dedicated client and design team working closely together to deliver key environmental, digital, and cultural themes that were central to the project's vision. A major aspect of the design was delivering a sustainable water management strategy to significantly reduce the terminal's environmental impact.

Andrew Haines, Senior Associate at Grant Associates, stated: “A focus was on delivering a project that would resonate with the city of Bengaluru. This extended to local sourcing, celebrating the essence of the city. Collaborations with regional fabricators and suppliers of natural materials such as clay brick and stone lent a distinct richness to the passenger experience while echoing the terminal's sustainable ethos.”

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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