Portland International Airport
Portland, Ore.
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca's airport expansion includes a drop-off-curb canopy that is an airport icon as well as a rain shelter

© Timothy Hursley

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By Sheri Olson, AIA

For architect Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF), $422 million worth of expansion and improvements to Portland International Airport depended on solving long-standing gridlock at passenger drop-off areas. The designers could not simply extend the curb, because the terminal was wedged between two runways.

For Phase I of the most ambitious development in the airport’s 56-year history, ZGF added a 10-gate, 170,000-square-foot extension of the terminal’s southern leg, which was completed in 1998. Then came the Terminal Access Program, which was finished in 2000 and included tripling the size of an existing parking garage and improving terminal access via pedestrian skybridges at the ticketing level and tunnels at the baggage-claim level. Phase II of the terminal expansion, which includes a new concessions court and 500,000-square-feet of new and remodeled space in the central ticket lobby and lower-level baggage-claim area, opened to passengers in the fall of 2001 and will be completed early in 2002.

A new light-rail station also had to be threaded into the terminal’s four-level circulation system. Thanks to unusual foresight, there was a preexisting right-of-way available to extend the city’s light-rail system to the terminal.

A glass canopy covers the drop-off lanes adjacent to the terminal and forms the airport’s new signature. Under the canopy, circulation is segregated vertically, with arrivals and baggage at grade and enplaning traffic at a ticketing level one story up. The architects pushed the front wall of the terminal out 25 feet to create more room for circulation and ticket queuing inside. The existing garage grew four stories and was extended toward the terminal so that it could anchor the canopy.

The long concourses are punctuated with rows of tropical fig trees, and zippers of skylights make the most of natural light in an overcast climate. The Oregon Marketplace, in the main concession area, features local cuisine and specialty shops, offering the kind of local flavor that counts. Spaces within the airport are differentiated to provide visual relief as well as landmarks for wayfinding. Mid-concourse concession areas become indoor piazzas surrounded by coffee bars, newsstands, and art installations.

See the January 2002 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Terminal Access Program (TAP), Portland International Airport

Location:
Portland, Ore.

Gross square footage:
Garage Expansion: 985,000 sq. ft.
Terminal Expansion: 35,000 sq. ft.
Roadway Canopy: 120,000 sq. ft.

Owner:
Port of Portland www.portofportland.com

Architect:
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
320 SW Oak, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
503/224-3860 (phone)
503/224-2484 (fax)
www.zgf.com