The Kansas City International Airport parking garage combines cutting-edge design, sustainability, and passenger convenience with a stunning ventilated glass façade.
By Bill Smith
When most people think of parking, they don’t think of architectural excellence. Typically, parking garages are viewed as boring, utilitarian structures rather than striking architectural examples.
But boring and merely functional wouldn’t do for the newest parking garage at the Kansas City International Airport (KCI) in Kansas City, Missouri. Located adjacent to the airport’s terminal, the structure had to reflect the airport’s sense of artistic beauty, while providing a safe, easy, and convenient parking experience. The seven-story garage, which provides parking for 6,219 vehicles, succeeds magnificently.
The new KCI parking garage represents a groundbreaking achievement in modern parking structure design. As part of the airport's broader redevelopment, the garage was built to provide visitors with a seamless experience, integrating convenience, efficiency, and accessibility with the latest advancements in sustainability, technology, and design. One of the most innovative elements of the project is its ventilated glass façade, an impressive architectural achievement and pioneering feature that enhances aesthetics, airflow, cost savings, and safety.
Designed to complement KCI's new terminal, the parking garage incorporates the largest public art installations in Kansas City’s history.
Innovation on display
Designed to complement KCI's new terminal, the parking garage incorporates several state-of-the-art features, including:
• Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations
• A smart-parking guidance system
• Multiple transport connections for seamless passenger movement
• An emphasis on safety, security, and environmental performance
• The largest public art installations in Kansas City’s history, funded under the city’s One Percent for Art Initiative mandating that 1% of certain construction project budgets be dedicated to public art
However, the most innovative of the garage’s features is its ventilated glass façade, encompassing 50,000 square feet of tempered and laminated glass. This engineering feat was made possible by the development of a custom-engineered fastening system that securely attaches the glass panels to the precast concrete base.
“Traditionally, parking designers and owners haven’t thought about architectural glass as a façade material for parking facilities,” said Steven Jayson, the owner of Bendheim Glass, the specialty architectural glass supplier that provided the glass for the facade of the KCI parking garage. “Actually, it is an ideal material for parking facades,” Jayson said. “It’s more attractive than concrete, less expensive than steel, incredibly functional, and requires low maintenance.”
The “shingled” design of the glass panels allows air to circulate between the layers, providing natural ventilation. This innovative approach negates the need for a mechanical ventilation system, yielding substantial savings for the airport by reducing upfront construction costs and ongoing operational expenses.
Engineering breakthrough
The scope of the project was truly massive. After all, 50,000 square feet of glass is a lot of glass. At first glance, project designers weren’t sure they could make the glass façade work.
The size and weight of the glass panels, each measuring up to 6 feet by 14 feet and weighing more than 800 pounds, posed significant engineering challenges. Although the original design called for a costly steel substructure, the project team developed an alternative — a custom vertical compression clip system that permitted the glass panels to be attached directly to concrete structure.
“The development of the custom clip system was a real breakthrough,” Jayson said. “Working closely with our long-time partners Längle Glas-System in Austria, we were able to create a tailored clip process that could support these massive panels.”
The 14-inch-long clips support the weight of the glass panels while accommodating construction tolerances, live load movement, wind loads, and expansion joints. This innovation not only streamlined construction but also eliminated the need for an expensive steel support framework, dramatically reducing material and labor costs while maintaining the integrity and durability of the façade.
Benefits of the ventilated glass façade
The garage’s ventilated glass façade perfectly reflects the aesthetics of the airport. And the importance of aesthetics shouldn’t be overlooked. One of the primary objectives of the garage’s design was to create a modern, visually appealing structure. The ventilated glass façade achieves this goal by elevating the exterior with a sleek, sophisticated appearance that aligns with the architectural language of the new terminal.
Reflective glass on the north façade greets approaching motorists with a harmonious view of earth and sky, while etched glass on the west façade directs a softer glow toward the terminal. The interplay of glass, light, and transparency gives the building a sense of openness and modernity, reinforcing Kansas City’s global identity.
But the advantages of the glass façade extend far beyond aesthetic sensibilities. It provided a range of additional advantages across multiple aspects of design and functionality, including:
• Cost savings and construction efficiency
• Enhanced ventilation and environmental efficiency
• Improved safety and security
Traditional parking structures often require large, costly mechanical ventilation systems to ensure proper airflow. By contrast, the facade on the KCI Airport garage features a “shingled” design in which the glass panels overlap like shingles on a roof, enabling air to pass between the panes of glass and into and out of the garage. This innovative approach negates the need for a mechanical ventilation system, yielding substantial savings for the airport by reducing upfront construction costs and ongoing operational expenses.
By leveraging passive airflow, the garage benefits from improved air quality, reduced energy consumption, and lower maintenance costs throughout the building’s lifespan.
Visibility is a crucial factor in parking garage safety. The glass façade enhances visibility both inside and outside the structure, enabling natural light to permeate the building and improving sightlines for pedestrians and drivers. Additionally, the glass panels help project interior lighting onto surrounding roadways and walkways, increasing nighttime safety and reducing the risk of accidents.
“The safety benefits of this design can’t be overstated,” Jayson said. “Safety and security are among the most important considerations in the design of any parking structure. And it’s not just a matter of keeping users safe from crime. The biggest safety issue in any garage is the risk of pedestrians being struck by cars after they park. The glass façade, combined with high visibility lighting, helps minimize all of these safety risks by increasing visibility both inside the garage and on adjacent roadways and sidewalks.”
The garage’s glass panels help project interior lighting onto surrounding roadways and walkways, increasing nighttime safety and reducing the risk of accidents.
Integration with the terminal and passenger experience
The parking garage was designed not only as a standalone structure but as an extension of the airport terminal. The project’s design team created a cohesive relationship between the two, ensuring clear wayfinding and ease of navigation, enhanced pedestrian safety with designated walkways and speed ramps, and thoughtful integration of public art, green spaces, and architectural elements that improve the user experience. By combining form and function, the parking garage enhances the overall airport experience for travelers, reinforcing Kansas City International Airport’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and passenger convenience.
The garage stands as a testament to the power of innovation in infrastructure design. Through the implementation of a ventilated glass façade, the project team successfully merged aesthetics, efficiency, and sustainability into a single groundbreaking feature. The custom fastening system, elimination of mechanical ventilation, and cost-effective design choices demonstrate how forward-thinking engineering can transform an essential airport facility into an architectural landmark. As airports around the world continue to modernize, the KCI Parking Garage serves as a model for how design ingenuity can redefine the future of transportation infrastructure.
Project Credits
Owner: Kansas City Aviation Department
Glass provider and attachment system designer: Bendheim Glass
Glass attachment system fabricator: Längle Glas-System
Architect: BNIM Architects
Engineer of record: Leigh & O’Kane, LLC
General contractor: J.E. Dunn Construction Company
BILL SMITH is a business writer specializing in the parking industry. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips.com.
