Guwahati’s new airport terminal wins global honour at International Architectural Awards 2025

In a proud moment for India, just ahead of Independence Day, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati has won the International Architectural Award 2025 in the Transport category, putting the northeastern gateway on the global map for design and planning. The prize, presented annually by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design in partnership with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press, recognised Guwahati’s new Terminal 2 for its architectural quality, cultural sensitivity and urban planning.

Terminal 2 at Guwahati Airport is designed as a tribute to Assam’s natural beauty and cultural identity. The airport’s social channels describe the structure as inspired by the resilience of bamboo and the grace of foxtail orchids, symbolic choices that anchor the terminal in local materials, forms and flora. The terminal aims to welcome travellers with an architectural language that blends sustainability, regional culture and modern passenger comfort.

Blending beauty with green thinking
 

Beyond aesthetics, the new terminal was planned with sustainability and passenger wellbeing at its centre. Key design features include:

• Open-plan layouts and skylights to maximise natural daylight and reduce energy use.
• Indoor gardens and vertical green walls to improve air quality and create calming interior spaces.
• An “arrival forest”, a landscaped arrival zone with lush planting and ambient skylighting that offers passengers a gentle transition from airside to the terminal.
• Operational design features aimed at smooth passenger movement and efficient baggage handling, with the terminal sized to handle up to 10 million passengers a year.

These choices reflect contemporary airport design principles: carve relaxing, healthful spaces for passengers while keeping operational efficiency and lower carbon footprints in view.

The architectural concept was led by NUDES, with Nuru Karim as the lead architect. The design team included Mahesh Khanapurkar, Vishesh Khetawat, Vatsal Kapadia, Atul Hanchate, Nirmal Kumar and Tanvi Savla, while landscape design was handled by Hemali Landscape Design Studio. The general contractor for the redevelopment was Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Pvt. Ltd., and the project is operated by Adani Airport Holdings Limited.

Guwahati is the principal aviation hub linking India’s Northeast with the rest of the country and international destinations. Upgrading the airport is about more than buildings, it is a strategic push to improve connectivity, boost tourism, facilitate trade and provide quicker, more reliable access for people and goods in a region that has historically been underserved by large-scale transport infrastructure.

A modern, well-managed airport can lower travel friction, attract more airlines and encourage investment into hospitality, logistics and regional industry. The redevelopment positions Guwahati to handle rising travel demand while giving travellers an experience rooted in the region’s identity.

The International Architectural Award places Guwahati among a select group of international airport projects celebrated this year, including facilities and concepts from Singapore, the USA, France, Italy and South Korea. For Assam and the Northeast, the award is both an international endorsement of design quality and a local morale boost and a demonstration that world-class airport architecture can also be regionally authentic.

For passengers, this means better passenger flow, more daylight, greener interiors and a calmer arrival/departure experience. For airlines and operators, it will lead to improved ground handling and baggage systems that can support higher throughput and reliability and as for the region it demands stronger soft infrastructure to attract visitors and investment, and a civic landmark that speaks to Assam’s identity.

Terminal 2’s global prize is likely to encourage further attention to airport design in India, especially for projects that combine technical performance with local cultural and environmental stewardship. For Guwahati, the award underlines a broader trend: India’s airports are not only scaling for capacity but are also aiming to be more sustainable, passenger-friendly and regionally resonant.