Archinect - News

ZGF's groundbreaking mass timber airport terminal design debuts in Portland

2024-08-15T18:50:00-04:00

A groundbreaking transportation infrastructure project from ZGF, the new Portland International Airport (PDX) Main Terminal in Oregon, has just opened after a five-year and $2.15 billion renovation.

Image courtesy Ema Peter Photography

The design features a 9-acre (3.5 million board feet) prefabricated mass timber roof and will eventually allow the airport to serve 35 million passengers annually by 2045.

Image courtesy Ema Peter Photography

While doubling its existing capacity, ZGF says they achieved a 50% energy reduction throughout the project by incorporating an all-electric ground-source heat pump.

Image courtesy Ema Peter Photography

ZGF partner Gene Sandoval said: “We had a tall order to evolve a terminal that’s essentially multiple buildings pieced together since the 1950s—and double the capacity while designing an experience passengers and employees will love as much as the original.”

Image: DROR BALDINGER FAIA

A total of 49 separate skylights combine with the roof's lattice st...

New Chicago O’Hare satellite concourse design by SOM-led team unveiled

2024-05-29T17:30:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill has announced plans for a new satellite concourse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport along with Ross Barney Architects, Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects, and Arup.

What will become the first new building in the airport’s largest expansion in 68 years features improved passenger experiences to compete with other modern airport designs. The firm won the commission for two new terminal structures at O’Hare, the country’s fourth-busiest airport, in 2019 and is expected to follow with the 1.3 million-square-foot total addition’s second half by 2030.

Image: courtesy of SOM and Norviska

"We designed the new satellite concourse to create a frictionless experience for travelers, on par with the best airports in the world," said SOM Design Partner Scott Duncan. "The gate lounges feature column-free expanses for easy wayfinding, high ceilings to improve views and air circulation, and a daylighting strategy to help align the body's natural rhythms — all to make ...

Gensler, PGAL, Muller2 to design new Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal F expansion

2024-02-23T12:58:00-05:00

The team behind the new $1.6 billion Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal F expansion has been announced to include the architecture firms PGAL, Muller2, and Gensler. The three join an eight-member design-build consortium for the delivery of the sixth terminal of the nation’s second-busiest airport that will add a total of 400,000 square feet and 15 new gates with docking spaces located on either side of a rectangular concourse.

Construction will begin in June of this year. The project team says expectations are for completion no later than the second quarter of 2027. The new Terminal F coincides with a “major” redesign and expansion of Terminal C that’s set to finish in 2028, with up to 24 new gates being added to the airport facility in total.

The local NBC affiliate reported the American Airlines-led effort as being a replacement for a larger 24-gate $3.5 billion Terminal F expansion scheme that had been planned for 2025 before a pandemic-caused cancellation.

Related ...

Gensler and Moody Nolan debut terminal design for Columbus International Airport

2023-08-25T15:28:00-04:00

Gensler has revealed plans for a new terminal design for John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Columbus, Ohio. The project replaces an existing terminal from 1958 and is aimed at enhancing the regional economy of the state’s capital in the interest of “Connecting Ohio with the World.”

Columbus-based architects Moody Nolan will join the project as a design partner. The construction is necessary to meet the demands placed on the airport by Columbus’ expected demographic change, which will see the population of what is now the Midwest’s fastest-growing city expand to over 3 million by the year 2050.

Image courtesy Columbus Regional Airport Authority

The ‘Y’ form of the design is meant to mirror the confluence of nearby Olentangy and Scioto River while “symbolizing the fluid pathways taken by travelers and the connectivity.” Visitors will move from a ground-level entrance lobby through ticketing and security and into the main concourse’s retail plaza framed by a central gran...

FAA selects PAU to deliver new air-traffic control tower prototypes

2023-04-20T17:42:00-04:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced its selection of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) for a new sustainable air-traffic control tower prototype that will initially deliver 31 highly-adaptable facilities at small regional and municipal airports throughout the United States.

The projects, funded in part through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, were selected against the agency’s strict requirements to minimize environmental impact while reducing operational costs and the price of construction.

Image courtesy PAU

Construction will vary in height between 63 and 119 feet and include elements such as all-electric building systems, thermal efficient facades, mass timber, and recycled steel and metal products. The new generation of towers will replace I.M. Pei’s iconic mid-century variation on the typology and will include interior spaces tailored to the well-being of air traffic control workers.

Image courtesy PAU

Geothermal heating and cooling techniques a...

AECOM picked as project management consultancy for NEOM International Aiport

2023-03-28T15:40:00-04:00

AECOM has announced that it has been awarded a multi-year contract to provide project management consultancy services for the NEOM International Airport in Saudi Arabia.

The firm will offer support towards master planning, design, and construction services as well as testing, commissioning, operational readiness, activation, and transition. AECOM has been present throughout NEOM’s development so far. In 2019, the firm won a project management contract for the development of NEOM Bay.

Previously on Archinect: Aecom wins project management contract for Saudi Arabia's Neom Bay

Additionally, in more recent news, it was announced that British engineering consultancy Atkins had been enlisted as a strategic Delivery Partner for The Line, the complicated linear city concept that aims to be the centerpiece of the NEOM megaproject.

Previously on Archinect: Atkins joins NEOM as strategic partner for The Line project

“We are very pleased to be part of this innovative NEOM project, which is set ...

New $4.2 billion JFK Terminal 6 expansion officially breaks ground

2023-02-27T18:29:00-05:00

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the $4.2 billion Terminal 6 project at JFK Airport.

This is the final piece of the JFK Vision Plan, the airport’s major, multi-year initiative to redevelop, modify, and expand existing facilities and infrastructure. This news follows the announcement of the terminal’s financing and approval in November 2022.

Rendering courtesy The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The scheme is a public-private partnership between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a consortium of financial stakeholders named JFK Millennium Partners.

The new terminal will be developed in two phases, with the first new gates opening in 2026 and construction set to complete in 2028. It will offer an anchor for passenger travel on JFK’s north side, spanning the sites of the former Terminal 6 and the existing Terminal 7. The 50-year-old Terminal 7 facility will be demolished...

Sacramento International Airport announces $1.3 billion expansion project

2023-02-07T08:00:00-05:00

The Sacramento County Department of Airports, the entity that operates the Sacramento International Airport (SMF), has announced a $1.3 billion expansion project that will transform the airport to meet projected passenger growth over the next seven years.

Called SMForward, the expansion consists of six projects launching in 2024. To start is the construction of a $140 million pedestrian walkway, which will connect Terminal B to Concourse B. Additional projects include expansions to Terminal A and Concourse B, with new gates and amenities; a new Terminal B parking garage; and a consolidated ground transportation center that will bring taxi, rideshare, and off-site shuttle providers to one place that is walkable from both terminals. This major undertaking is expected to be completed in late 2027 following the completion of a new $400 million centralized rental car facility.

SMForward is the largest construction project in the Airport’s history. It will be financed through a combinati...

FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion

2022-11-23T12:10:00-05:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued approval to the proposed O’Hare 21 Expansion plan following the results of an environmental review that was announced by the agency on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was on hand in the Windy City to join Mayor Lori Lightfoot for the announcement, which allows for construction to begin in the spring on two satellite concourses and a new Global Terminal that will replace O’Hare’s existing Terminal 2. The FAA says “no significant impact” will be made by the Terminal Area Plan (TAP) and that it will immediately lead to a decrease in emissions thanks to reduced taxi times and more flexible gate capacity. The total budget for the TAP project is around $7.1 billion.

Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

SOM will lead the construction of both concourses, which add about 1.3 million square feet of space and are expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, respectively. The new Global Terminal designed by Studio ...

New York announces funding and construction timeline for new Terminal 6 expansion at JFK

2022-11-22T16:57:00-05:00

A few months after ground was broken on the $9.5 billion New Terminal One project, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the financing and approval of a new $4.2 billion Terminal 6 at JFK Airport that will serve as the final piece of the airport’s multi-year transformation upon completion in 2028.

The terminal will be developed in two phases beginning next year, with the first stage expected to open in 2026. It will have space for 10 gates in its 1.2-million-square-foot plan, with typical retail and dining options included along with an offering of touchless check-in technology, biometric security controls, and the space to accommodate for regulatory changes and further technology upgrades in the future.

JFK will demolish the aging Terminal 7 following the conclusion of the first phase of construction, and its current tenant British Airways will be relocated inside the newly-modernized Terminal 8, th...

JFK's New Terminal One project officially breaks ground

2022-09-19T18:31:00-04:00

First announced in December 2021, the privately-funded, $9.5 billion New Terminal One project at JFK International Airport officially broke ground earlier this month.

The 2.4-million-square-foot international terminal will become JFK’s largest upon completion. Construction will occur in phases on the sites of the current Terminals 1 and 2 as well as the former Terminal 3.

A group of firms, including Carlyle, JLC Infrastructure, and Ullico, are among the private partners behind the undertaking, which bills Gensler in charge of design and AECOM Tishman as the general contractor.

Previously on Archinect: New York Governor Hochul announces $9.5 billion project for new Terminal 1 at JFK

"We're doing it better, because right now you go through a place like Penn Station and the former LaGuardia and the former airports, you just wanted to look down. You shuffled along, you know, just kind of in the masses. You didn't have any reason to feel optimistic, to put a smile on your face," New Yo...

Is the future of airport design on your career radar?

2022-06-08T09:00:00-04:00

In a recent article on the future of airports, The New York Times noted that the average age of an airport terminal is more than 40 years old, meaning many are becoming ill-equipped to deal with modern air travel trends. Unsurprisingly, our editorial has recently featured several aviation expansion projects across the United States as airport authorities respond to a predicted resurgence of the aviation industry following the COVID-19 free-fall.

Last month, Woods Bagot and The Miller Hull Partnership unveiled designs for a timber-focused expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In March, Orlando International Airport confirmed that its $3 billion expansion project, including 15 new gates, was nearing completion, while progress also continued at a long-awaited renovation of LaGuardia’s Terminal B in New York. Late last year, meanwhile, it was announced that New York’s JFK ...

New York Governor Hochul announces $9.5 billion project for new Terminal 1 at JFK

2021-12-13T18:03:00-05:00

John F. Kennedy International Airport is about to get some much-needed renovations thanks to a privately funded investment. Governor Kathy Hochul announced Monday that private partners will be investing $9.5 billion to overhaul Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and the old Terminal 3 at the airport.

Hochul said an agreement was made between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and The New Terminal One group, who will be the financial backers of the project. A new 2.4-million-square-foot facility will be built in phases, with the project set to create more than 10,000 jobs. It will feature 23 international gates, making it the largest international terminal at JFK. This is the fourth major terminal project that’s part of a complete transformation of JFK into a “world-class” airport.

Image: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Construction of the new terminal is set to begin in mid-2022 and is expected to be fully completed by 2030. The design-build team is led by AECOM Tishman and Gensler.

"As we recover from this pandemic, I want to ensure that everyone traveling to New York has a welcoming and streamlined experience, and that New Yorkers have the modernized transportation hubs they deserve," Governor Hochul said. "The time to get large infrastructure projects done ...

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has built four new gates composed of prefabricated modules

2021-09-28T14:59:00-04:00

In an unprecedented move, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has constructed four new prefabricated modular gates for its Terminal C.

The gates replace a 72,000-square-foot extension comprising five gates built in 1988. According to CNN, they were initially intended to be used for only 10 to 15 years at the most, however, due to their central location and constant use, DFW chose not to replace them until now. Their demolition began in February and was finished in March, which is when work on the foundation and underground utilities for the new gates began. This effort was completed in August.

Check out the progress on the High C Gates at DFW!

The new, 5-gate concourse is being built in prefabricated modules, which will be transported to the terminal and put together later this summer. The construction method saves time and money, and is a first for a U.S. airport. pic.twitter.com/zd0P7Ra3AH
— DFW Airport (@DFWAirport) July 13, 2021

DFW worked with construction companies A...

Norman Foster digs in on his stance on airport emissions

2021-09-03T16:26:00-04:00

I would argue that everything has a footprint, and in relative terms, the carbon footprint of air travel is relatively small. That does not mean it shouldn’t be addressed, but I do feel passionately that we have to address the infrastructure of mobility.

Norman Foster's airport projects have drawn in an increasing amount of business for the 54-year-old firm in the last two decades. Foster went as far last year as to withdraw the firm from Architects Declare, the group his firm joined the year prior to promote a broader set of climate change discussions in the industry.

Foster compared the impacts of air travel to the magnitudes larger footprint caused by meat production. The Pritzker-winning architect's full comments can be viewed in the Bloomberg video below.

Foster + Partners withdraws from Architects Declare over aviation dispute

2020-12-02T13:15:00-05:00

One of the UK’s most famous architects has withdrawn from an environmental coalition in a dispute about the destructive role of aviation in the escalating climate crisis. [...] The decision follows a row over Foster and Partners’ work on airports around the world – seen by critics as incompatible with tackling the climate and ecological emergency.

Airport designs have been key projects in Foster + Partners' portfolio for years, with prominent recent commissions and competition entries in Saudi Arabia, Marseille, Chicago, Mexico City, and Beijing.

Following Foster's decision to withdraw from his initial commitment, Architects Declare issued following statement on its website today:

We are disappointed that Foster + Partners has chosen to withdraw from the declarations and we would welcome a conversation with them on the points raised.

We recognise that addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies challenges current practice and business models for us all, not least around the expansion of aviation. We believe that what is needed is system change and that can only come about through collective action. Architects Declare is not a ‘protest’ movement but a collaborative support network to innovate positive transformation. Our movement is global. As of today there are 1037 UK practices committed to the declaration and over 6...

Foster + Partners-designed Tulip tower may impact London's air traffic control systems

2018-12-03T13:44:00-05:00

Gondalas designed to move up and down the top of the Tulip tower are at risk of confusing air traffic control systems, according to technical experts at London City airport. Construction on the 305-metre (1,000ft) tower must not go ahead until an assessment has been carried out into its potential impact on radar systems at the airport six miles to the east, officials told the authority considering whether to grant planning permission.

After its big reveal in November, planning for the 1,000-foot-tall The Tulip observation tower by Foster + Partners has been halted by officials to study the impact the attraction's moving glass spheres high up in the sky will have on radar systems at the nearby London City airport, pointing out that "the gondalas will be moving and therefore may have a slightly different effect than a static element of the building."

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Airbus to build interchangeable sleeping compartments in cargo hold

2018-04-16T15:49:00-04:00

European plane-maker Airbus has announced it is to develop lower-deck passenger modules that sit inside the cargo hold. In a press release Tuesday, the firm said it was partnering with Zodiac Aerospace to build the compartments, complete with sleeping berths for passengers. Airbus said the intention is to receive formal approval from aviation bodies by 2020 with the first installation to be made on an A330 aircraft.

Airbus and Zodiac Aerospace are creating sleeping modules that would be interchangeable with regular cargo containers. This would give airlines the flexibility to reconfigure their cargo on layovers or turnarounds. Their first mock-up was reportedly well received by airlines.

Take a look in their sleeping module mock-up:

Airbus promises autonomous flying taxis in the (very) near future

2016-08-26T14:12:00-04:00

Airbus appears to be serious about its "Vahana" project, aimed at creating an autonomous passenger drone network, and thinks testing can begin as early as 2017. [...] Airbus is also working on a drone delivery service [...] and plans to start testing it at a Singapore university by mid-2017. The cargo-laden vehicles fly automated routes in "aerial corridors," then drop them off and send delivery notifications to customers.

Airbus engineers are dreaming up no small endeavor as laid out in the company's Future of Urban Mobility vision:

"Imagine landing at a major international airport after a long flight in an A380. Instead of suffering through a 90-minute taxi ride in the megacity’s gridlocked traffic, you hop into an electrically operated aerial vehicle from zenHOP, which brings you to your destination – landing on your chosen zenHUB – in just nine minutes. Too expensive? No, zenMOVE has found three other travellers who also want to get to the city centre. As a result, the flight costs no more than a taxi ride. On top of that, no need to worry about your luggage – zenLUGGAGE takes care of that – or your security, as zenCYBER protects your flight against hacker attacks."

↑ Illustration of Airbus' Skyways drone parcel delivery service, which will enter test mode on the campus of the National University of Singapore in mid-2017.

Newly patented space elevator could take astronauts 12 miles up into the stratosphere

2015-08-24T17:20:00-04:00

Canadian space and defense company Thoth Technology is attempting to make reaching the stratosphere as simple as riding an elevator up a tower about 23 times taller than the world’s tallest building. The Thoth space elevator patent, approved by the US patent office on July 21, specifies that the tower could be built on any “planetary surface,” (i.e. not just Earth), a sign that Thoth is thinking pretty far ahead. [...] the top of the tower will serve as a rocket launch site.

In slightly more recent-technology elevator news:

LAX's New Tom Bradley Terminal Receives LEED Gold Standard

2015-04-09T17:35:00-04:00

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the Pacific gateway to the United States, has achieved LEED Gold certification for its new Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), the crown jewel of the Bradley West renovation. This makes the 1.25-million-square-foot facility the largest LEED Gold airport terminal in the United States. Designed by Fentress Architects, TBIT is not only sustainable, it is America’s most technologically-advanced airport to date.

In the press release by the architects who designed the Tom Bradley terminal expansion, they detail some of the projects' most notable aspects:

The interior of the terminal contains "more than 12,000-square-feet of LED tiles and hundreds of LCD screens" to entertain travelers.
The project includes 15-gate terminals and concourse, designed to give room for expansion with LAX now the second-busiest airport in the nation.
Numerous features were designed to make the expansion sustainable, notably the use of low-E glass to minimize heat gain and low-flow water fixtures.