The industry's shift towards more sustainable airport design is taking on another form in Washington State after Woods Bagot revealed their designs for an ecologically-sound C Concourse Expansion at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. 

Part of a series of capital improvements, the scope of the project entails the four-story expansion of an existing structure from 1966 and will follow the Port of Seattle’s new Sustainable Project Framework — a first for large developments under the body’s new environmentally-strident guidelines. 

Per the architects, the 145,530-square-foot expansion “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness. Miller Hull and Woods Bagot are leading the project’s design concept of 'bringing in and seeing out' to create an interplay of environments between the natural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and the energy and vibrancy of Seattle.”

The project will result in the addition of a new 20,000-square-foot lounge for Alaska Airlines, an interfaith prayer and mediation room, nursery, and a selection of retail and dining amenities called The Grand Stairs. 

Woods Bagot says its design will be heavily influenced by the coniferous forests of the region and will come with a suite of sustainability features that include photovoltaic panels they say can provide up to 15% of the expanded concourse’s energy demands, fossil-fuel-free heating, lessened steel tonnage, decreased cement quantity, electrochromatic glazing, and a drastic reduction in solid waste in addition to a slate of biophilic design features spread throughout the interior and folded facade.

Construction will kick off in the summer with the major portion of the build beginning mid-2023 and reaching completion at an undetermined date in 2027.