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Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Haj Terminal, King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah)

Aga Khan Award-winning tensile fabric Hajj terminal.

SOM's Haj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, completed in 1981, is one of the most influential airport buildings in the world. Its tensile fabric canopies form 210 modular units covering roughly 465,000 sqm and shade up to 80,000 pilgrims at a time during peak Hajj season. The terminal won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983 and remains in active service, a rare longevity milestone for any aviation building.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) logo
Haj Terminal, King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah)
terminal · design · architecture
CATALOG
Technical specifications

Key specs

Completed1981
Peak capacity80,000 pilgrims simultaneously
Canopy area~465,000 sqm
Number of fabric modules210
Design approachOpen-air tensile fabric, passive ventilation
AwardAga Khan Award for Architecture, 1983
Installed in GCC

Proven at these airports