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LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South project has topped out in Los Angeles

2024-04-22T17:46:00-04:00

LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South (or MSC South) recently topped out as the project's construction progresses in nine segments toward its 2025 completion date. The offsite construction will eventually yield eight new gates and a total of 150,000 square feet of space following a first-of-its-kind integrated design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA).

Buro Happold, structural engineer, sustainability consultant, lighting and acoustical designer on the project, in partnership with architects Woods Bagot and RAW International, says: "Each segment was designed with an independent lateral system consisting of buckling restrained braced frames in the east-west direction and Simspon Yield Link moment frames in the north-south direction to allow for access to gates along the terminal length. Additional analysis was then undertaken to determine the lifting points of each segment ...

Sasaki will oversee redevelopment of Santa Monica Airport into park space for LA County

2024-01-02T17:46:00-05:00

Plans for the redevelopment of the soon-to-close Santa Monica Airport have become clearer after the City Council approved an agreement with Sasaki Associates in December that would deliver a “Great Park” concept to the 227-acre site after 2028.

The new *Airport Conversion Planning Project agreement calls for a five-phase public consultation and research effort to be conducted by the firm before the end of 2025. A framework will come first in Phase One and precedes a draft of the project’s guiding principles in Phase Two, with the eventual naming of a study-informed ‘preferred scenario’ and alternative suggestions being produced by the end of Phase Three.

Phases Four and Five will round out the plan with a proposed implementation strategy for the alternative and eventual publication of a ‘Preferred Scenario Vision Book’ that coalesces the previous four phases into one written framework. Considerations for the immediate on-site activations after ‘Day One’ (e.g. January 1, 2029) are al...

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's $400M C Concourse Expansion gets cleared for takeoff

2023-10-15T08:00:00-04:00

A previously-announced plan from Woods Bagot and The Miller Hull Partnership is moving forward in Washington State after officials with the Port of Seattle Commission finally approved the $399 million C Concourse Expansion for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The expansion will add 145,530 square feet in total, including a 20,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines passenger lounge, multifaith prayer room, meditation center, nursery room, amphitheater, and a retail/dining area called The Grand Stairs, to an existing structure from 1966. The firms say their proposal “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness.” Turner has been contracted to lead the construction.

Rendering courtesy of The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot.

SEA planning officials are optimistic its realization will add to its claims of being the most energy-efficient port in the country as the first major construction to be undertaken in ...

Woods Bagot's LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South expansion has broken ground

2023-07-13T16:42:00-04:00

A groundbreaking ceremony held in late June marks the official start of work on the LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South project, an expansion of the recently-opened West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal.

The Woods Bagot-designed $400 million MSC South project will add 150,000 square feet, spread across eight gates and two stories, to LAX. It forms part of Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAWA), the airport authority that owns and operates the airport, $14.5 billion capital investment improvement project, which includes terminal renovations, the construction of new ground transportation hubs, and an automated people mover system.

Aerial view of site. Image courtesy of Woods Bagot.

MSC South’s construction will utilize what the architects describe as a first-of-its-kind technique, where its building components will be built offsite and then delivered to the location for assembly.

The new concourse will have an L-shaped layout with an exterior brise soleil that will reduce glare and solar radiation while maximizing outdoor views. The design also draws inspiration from LA’s modernist homes. The project is grounded in sustainable practices as it aims for LEED Silver certification. Completion...

Foster + Partners unveils vertiport terminal concept for Dubai

2023-04-10T12:15:00-04:00

A new electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) terminal concept has been unveiled by Foster + Partners.

The firm says its plan would augment the Dubai International Airport (DBX) and was developed in unison with Skyports Infrastructure, which Foster + Partners called a leader in advanced air mobility (AAM). It will help transport air travelers to other nodes in the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)’s planned vertiport and metro infrastructure network, itself a zero emissions high-speed system that’s currently being promoted by the government and the emirate's monarch Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Placed in the context of Foster + Partners’ other airport designs in the region, the vertiport project will serve as a compliment to its previously proposed King Salman International Airport and the forthcoming Red Sea Airport, both of which are located in Saudi Arabia and were begun in the two years since the firm’s controversial withd...

Hollywood Burbank Airport unveils three finalist for new terminal design

2023-03-15T14:02:00-04:00

Three options to replace the aging Hollywood Burbank Airport main terminal have been released to the public following an internal selection from the Holder, Pankow, TEC, Joint Venture (HPTJV) team tasked with leading the Elevate BUR process.

Urbanize LA has more on the forthcoming 14-gate, 355,000-square-foot terminal project, which will also include parking, maintenance, and cargo facilities, along with other “ancillary features” located on the northeast portion of the 91-year-old airport.

First, "The Century," is inspired by the region's rich architectural history and calls for a "light-filled hall" defined by the "simple forms" and "clean lines" that are synonymous with Mid-Century design.

"The Century" concept. Image courtesy Corgan

The next design, dubbed "The Icon," is supposedly inspired by the "glitz and glamour of Hollywood" and includes a silver screen facade that is subsumed by an overarching canopy structure connected to the par...

An industry expert discusses what’s holding back the use of 3D printing in commercial construction

2023-02-06T08:45:00-05:00

While the government has doled out grant money to research 3D printing capabilities in space, and several proof-of-concept projects from bridges to Army barracks have garnered headlines, the applied use of 3D printing in commercial construction remains nascent. Patti Harburg-Petrich, principal in the Los Angeles office of U.K.-based engineering firm Buro Happold, says the real culprit is likely one that all new building innovations are forced to navigate: the building code itself.

Harburg-Petrich pointed to the limitations of rebar on a recent design-build she advised at Woodbury University as evidence of the negative influence of building code restrictions, even in research and development. She also predicted airport design to be a potential growth sector and said the technology could perhaps be better applied to individual project components like (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) MEPs as it currently stands.

“If you can take advantage of industrialized construction and still be able to produce something that is bespoke, that leads toward a much faster pace of adoption,” she told Construction Dive. “If you can do something with less material, or put the pieces together faster, there are all kinds of cost savings right there, and all sorts of non-monetary benefits as well. “

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Orlando International Airport's $3 billion South Terminal C expansion is set to open in July

2022-03-09T18:43:00-05:00

Orlando International Airport's largest-ever expansion is about 90% complete, according to a Greater Orlando Aviation Authority press release shared with Construction Dive. The three-level South Terminal C project at Florida's busiest airport will encompass 300 acres, add 15 gates to accommodate up to 20 aircraft and serve 10-12 million additional passengers each year, the release said.

The approximately $3 billion project was a collaboration between a Turner-Kiewit joint venture, which provided construction management services for the Landside Terminal C, Hensel Phelps, which served as construction manager for the Airside Terminal C, and Vanderlande, which served as the design/build/operate/maintain contractor.

The new terminal features a high-tech, low-touch design and aims to become the world’s first LEEDv4 airport. The new terminal boasts a more centralized design, where arriving passengers will be able to retrieve checked baggage on the same level where they deplane. It also ensures an easier screening process, in which TSA checkpoints contain fully automated screening lanes, and a quieter baggage handling system that allows passengers to track their bags. The terminal is expected to open in July.

What will airports of the future look like? Student winners of the 2020 Fentress Global Challenge explore the possibilities

2020-10-07T12:51:00-04:00

The winners of the 2020 Fentress Global Challenge, an annual global student design competition launched in 2011 by Fentress Architects, have been announced. This year's competition challenge students to reimagine airport mobility in the year 2100. Over 100 projects were submitted. The first-place prize is $15,000, second place $3,000, third place $2,000, and the two People's Choice Awards will receive $1,000.

"A deep passion for design and a creative mindset are the cornerstone of any successful design competition submission,” said Curtis Fentress, FAIA, RIBA, Principal in Charge of Design at Fentress Architects in a statement. “Each year, the submissions we receive are more innovative, spirited and dynamic than the prior year, which shows an exciting outlook for the future of terminal design. We’re greatly impressed by this year’s winners and every submission we received."

Here are this year's winners with captions via the Fentress Global Challenge:

First-Place Winner: BANIYA, The ...

Apple and United Airlines may partner to renovate SFO terminal

2019-10-28T13:00:00-04:00

Parts of the current terminal look dated, and Apple, a modern technology giant known for sleek design, uses United as its corporate airline to shuttle thousands of employees around the world. United accidentally revealed last year that Apple spends $150 million annually with the company on flights, including 50 business class seats a day from San Francisco to Shanghai.

The talks, according to Bloomberg News, are in the early stages and the details regarding the types of upgrades that could come into being are currently unclear.

Linda Jojo, executive vice president at United Airlines Holdings Inc. told Bloomberg News, “The Apple team in San Francisco has been in our baggage hold areas, customer service and the lobbies,” adding, “I’m being deliberately vague.”

America's first solar-powered airport has arrived

2019-08-14T19:45:00-04:00

Earlier this month, the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport announced that it had hit a much-anticipated milestone in becoming the first airfield in the United States powered by 100% solar energy. The end result of an ambitious project that started seven years ago, the airport's 2.64-megawatt solar farm was completed with about $5 million of funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.