The public opening of the new HOK- and WSP-designed La Guardia Terminal B in New York City took place last weekend, revealing a new 850,000-square-foot terminal set to become the first component of a totally revamped airport complex. 

The airport contains a series of mesmerizing public art works that have been installed in the terminal areas and also features new passenger check-in areas, new baggage terminals, and new food, beverage, and retail functions while offering panoramic views of the New York City skyline. 

The airport terminal is connected two concourses via a pair of 450-foot-long steel truss pedestrian bridges that rise 65-feet in the air and provide visual connections between passengers and the city's growing skylines.

Carl Galioto, FAIA, HOK’s president and New York office managing principal, explains via press release: “Our design concept focuses on two main components: a superior passenger experience and an exterior architectural expression that conveys a civic presence from the Grand Central Parkway. The building is a metaphor for New York, a city of islands and bridges, and the terminal is connected to the city with views of the skyline from the passenger bridges. Our ambition was to help transform LaGuardia into an airport with a distinct civic identity worthy of this metropolis.”

Bernie McNeilly, WSP USA’s chief operating officer for transportation and principal-in-charge of the project adds, “In addition to the building itself, LaGuardia’s new and improved roadway network is unlike any other, in that it was designed from the beginning as a critical feature of the overall airport terminal aesthetic."

McNeilly continues: "Even before passengers arrive at the terminal, they will get a satisfying sense that things have changed for the better here and will set in motion a more pleasant, comfortable travel experience. It provides New York with a world-class facility that balances beauty, design and function, and leaves those visiting or traveling through the city with a positive and memorable impression.”

The project team includes LaGuardia Gateway Partners, which is made up of Vantage Airport Group, Skanska, Meridiam and JLC Infrastructure. For the project, Skanska Walsh acted as a design-build joint venture with HOK and WSP on board for design work of the facilities. Thornton Tomasetti acted as structural engineer for the headhouse of the project, while HOK served as structural engineer for the pedestrian bridges and concourses.A full list of project partners can be found on the HOK website.