Gresham Smith is proud to announce that the Charlotte Douglas International Airport Terminal Lobby Expansion and Central Energy Plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, has received a 2026 American Architecture Award.
Designed by Gresham Smith, the Terminal Lobby Expansion represents the airport’s most ambitious upgrade to date. The 370,000-square-foot expansion and renovation doubles the existing lobby, enhances major terminal operations and elevates Charlotte’s identity through thoughtful, experience-driven design. Designed to feel both regal and welcoming, the terminal is anchored by the iconic statue of Queen Charlotte, transforming the lobby into a modern civic hall defined by grace, light and effortless movement.
Additionally, a new 150,000-square-foot curbside canopy spans the upper-level roadway, providing complete weather protection while establishing a modern identity for CLT and improving passenger comfort and safety.
Sustainability was also a key objective for the City of Charlotte. The Terminal Lobby Expansion achieved Two Green Globes through GBI’s Green Globes New Construction Certification, while the adjacent Central Energy Plant achieved the same milestone—the first CLT project to do so.
Since 1994, The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, in collaboration with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press, has organized The American Architecture Awards to honor significant new buildings, landscapes and planning projects designed and built in the United States and abroad. Now in its 32nd year, the program is recognized as one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for cutting-edge design and celebrates innovation in contemporary architecture and planning.
Read more about CLT’s award here.
