Voices of Design Leadership. Ken Sanders

       Image Credit: ZGF Architects

The new main terminal at Portland International Airport is the largest of five capital improvement projects completed or underway as part of the Port of Portland’s “PDX Next” campaign. Its most prominent design feature is a mass-timber roof structure spanning the expanded lobby and ticket areas. The lattice wood ceiling is inspired by local weaving traditions and made of sustainably harvested timber. Every lattice piece will be traceable back to its forest of origin, which the Port of Portland describes as “a love letter to the small families, Pacific Northwest tribes and other landowners that contributed to the project.”

      Interior design elements are inspired by the human-friendly scale of Portland’s city blocks and neighborhoods, with retail storefronts placed along tree-lined “streets” and café and restaurant seating extending onto “sidewalks.”

      Joint venture builder Hoffman-Skanska, along with Swinerton Builders, are constructing the nine-acre undulating roof by prefabricating large-scale glulam “cassettes,” complete with skylights, which will be transported on rollers and lifted into place. Installation of the timber roof is scheduled to begin in 2022.

KS: Let’s shift a bit and talk about projects and clients. You’ve been working several years now on the new terminal core replacement project at Portland International Airport (PDX). ZGF has been working there for decades. What’s new and different about the new terminal and what are you bringing forward?

      SVDM: There will be a lot that is new, but I hope that the community, the people that live in this region, the visitors from outside, all look at this building and the interior environment and feel like it represents the Pacific Northwest. We’ve been involved in new concourses, the canopy design, and many updates over the last 40 years, but this project unifies the whole terminal. The scope of the project includes the ticket lobby, security lanes, and pre- and post-security concessions and amenities.

      Passengers will notice right away the new mass timber roof overhead that spans the extent of the terminal. It is something of a design and construction feat to be able to fabricate and install, while keeping the airport operational. The wood is all locally sourced from the Pacific Northwest, with an emphasis on using small and sustainable tree farmers in our area.

      We’ve also worked hard to keep PDX at a more intimate scale. We worked on understanding what was important to the passengers – what they love and identify with the most about PDX. One of the areas we heard about was the ease to self-navigate throughout the airport. So our approach was to design a series of large flexible rooms that will help guide the passengers and create a journey of experiences.

      The flow of the airport will remain familiar, but the overall appearance will be updated with an emphasis on regional materials, and NW design expression. There will be more natural light and expanded views to the airfield. We’ve paid attention to biophilia and how to create an exceptional passenger experience through landscape and light. Our hope is that passengers feel more delight in their journey and less stress.

      The feeling of wonderment is something that our team has focused on, bringing back the romance of flight again, to elevate the experience and make people want to go to the airport early. We’re thinking about every step of that journey and how to make it something special and unique for the passenger, but also tied inexplicitly to the Pacific Northwest.

      From a logistical view, there are six buildings that make up the terminal right now, all connected with different structural systems, built to different codes, over a 65-year span, with the baggage handling system directly below. I’m stating the obvious but building all of this new program over existing spaces is a very sensitive and fully choreographed endeavor.

      KS: I have seen beautiful renderings of an organic, light-filled wood ceiling in the new terminal, but the structure is timber as well, right?

      SVDM: Yes, it is a mass timber structure and it will cover 400,000 square feet, the entire terminal level.

      KS: An important question: are you keeping the carpet?

      SVDM: What carpet, Ken? What are you talking about? (laughing) Yes, there is going to be carpet, lots of carpet. I think that we would be run out of Portland if the carpet wasn’t there, honestly.

      I don’t know if you remember this, but they changed the carpet about eight years ago. There is now a history of two patterns at PDX. When they changed the pattern, people lined up to buy the old carpet. They took it for their homes and offices; we had to purchase some of that carpet for a client because they wanted it for their office. No lie. It has a cult following. There are coasters, socks, coffee cups, and people who have the carpet pattern tattooed on themselves.

      KS: Get out!

      SVDM: Oh yes. Oh yes.

      KS: You said the pattern was changed. I remember the green background with little purple and red squares, like runway lights.

      SVDM: Yes, there’s a new pattern now, but we have found locations within the terminal to have both patterns, so passengers can relive the history of the PDX carpet.

      Randall Children’s Hospital