BIAL to invite bids for airport expansion soon

BIAL to invite bids for airport expansion soon
Bangalore: feb 9,dhns:

The Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) will shortly call for bids to begin construction of a second terminal as part of its expansion plans said Marcel Hungerbeuhler, CEO of BIAL on Tuesday.

Speaking to Deccan Herald at the sidelines of the VisionAir 2010 awards presentation ceremony held at BIAL, Marcel said: “Construction of a new terminal T2 will begin by the end of this year, after the process of global bidding is completed. Global architectural firm HOK has been appointed to design the expansion plans.”
Earlier, teams from M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) and R V College of Engineering (RVCE) walked away with a cheque of Rs 50,000 each, after being adjudged the winners of the VisionAir 2010 competition.

The MSRIT team comprised Vishwa S, Arjun Jayswal and Dundu Biswana J K, and RVCE team comprised Karan Shetty, Karan Singh and Prabodh Agarwal. A consolation prize was also announced for the runners-up team comprising Alok Shetty and Akash Raju from RVCE.

12 finalists battle it out
The three-month long student engagement programme / competition organised by BIAL saw twelve finalists from Bangalore’s leading architectural colleges presenting their final designs depicting how they envision the central public space of the BIAL.
The participants of the event went through two rounds from which winners were chosen. On Dec 15 and 16 last year, over 200 students presented 64 basic concepts on the space defined.

Describing the outcome as outstanding, Marcel Hungerbuehler said, “The designs presented were all based on very strong and unique concepts and the conclusion was a spectacular range of concepts and ideas.”

Alok Shetty, one of the finalists, said: “VisionAir is by far the most professional study exchange programme conducted in India on an international airport project. While it gave us the freedom to explore concepts and ideas that go beyond conventional thought processes, we were guided to refine our thoughts in stages with each of us having an equal opportunity to create a winning concept designed on the airport central area.”
The three winning designs were named ‘Synthesis’, ‘Air City’ and ‘Flight Anchor’ by the students. However, the winning designs may or may not be actually incorporated in the airport expansion plan.