How locals made PDX the local-est airport yet.

The Big Story

How locals made PDX the local-est airport yet

100% local shops and restaurants. Wood for the roof thoughtfully sourced from forests within a day’s drive. Partnerships with local tribes and sustainable forestry pros. That’s only the start of the story of how people from around the Pacific Northwest came together to make the new spaces at the Portland International Airport even more of a reflection of our region.

It all began when PDX’s main terminal needed an upgrade to welcome travelers for another 50 years. We wondered, could we work with locals to make our local airport even more local than it already felt? So we set out to regionally source almost everything from the timber in the roof to the new shops filling the more expansive spaces. And like a lot of good things around here, it all began in the great outdoors.

On trails around the region, ZGF Architects found the inspiration for the new designs.

“We started with the question, what’s the image of Oregon?”
—Gene Sandoval, ZGF

1. Design Roots

A few architects walk into a forest...

A local team of designers wanted the new spaces to feel more like a stroll in a local park and less like a generic shopping mall. That team was led by Sharron van der Meulen and Gene Sandoval — partners at Portland’s own ZGF Architects.

Gene describes the airport “as my Ellis Island,” as he moved here four decades ago from Philippines. He took a lot of pride in approaching the design process, which involved speaking to many people about their sense memories of the region. He’s found it typically involves the forest: “Maybe it’s the light through Douglas firs, the smell of evergreen, the density of the trees.”

That all inspired the concept for an airport you couldn’t build anywhere else: a remarkable wooden roof sourced from ecologically managed forests, undulating across spaces that evoke the natural beauty of the region. The best compliment, Sharron says, would be hearing PDX visitors say, “‘Oh my god, that’s so Oregon!”

But making the spaces feel like the Pacific Northwest required a lot of people to work together in all corners of our region.

Sharron van der Meulen, Gene Sandoval - ZGF Architects

“So many people made this happen — it wouldn't be possible without them.”
—Sharron van der Meulen, ZGF

Talisa Shevavesh - ZGF Architects

“Some voices said, ‘Those are nice ideas, but that can't be done.’”
—Ryan Temple, Sustainable Northwest Wood

2. Sourcing challenge

Nobody had locally sourced an airport before

“When you look up at the roof, you’re going to be blown away by the beauty of it,” says Ryan, founder of Sustainable Northwest Wood, which helped source the wood for the airport’s ceiling from forests around the region. How did the team pull that off? Well, it required a whole lot of phone calls from people who don’t always spend a lot of time talking to each other — like architects talking to family owned forests in rural Oregon and Washington.

For most of the construction industry, lumber is a mere commodity. It’s actually really hard for anyone buying timber to know if it’s from an ecologically managed forest or not. In the end, it took six years for the Port of Portland and ZGF to collaborate with sustainable forestry pros, regional tribes, and mills who were all motivated by shared goals: ensuring healthy forests while keeping more money in local pockets.

Malloree Weinheimer - Chickadee Forestry

Ben Hayes - Hyla Woods

Kastor family in front of logging equipment

Karolyn, Daniel, and Kevin Kaster - Kasters Kustom Cutting

Ryan Temple - Sustainable Northwest Wood

“Forestry is, at its best, defined more by what's left behind than what's taken.”
—Ryan Temple, Sustainable Northwest Wood

Point to any section of the lattice ceiling and we can trace it back to the source: within a day’s drive of the airport.

3. Local Forests

The caretakers of our forests showed us how

The wood for the roof comes from forests within a 300-mile radius, including partnerships with four local tribes. Sources include many family owned forests, the Nature Conservancy, Yakama Nation, Coquille Indian Tribe, Skokomish Indian Tribe, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Along the way, they all taught us how to do forestry in a way that can ensure healthy environments and economies.

This traceability is unheard of in projects of this kind: 73% of the wood supports landowners that are Forest Stewardship Council-certified or practicing ecological forestry. And tribal wood makes up 16% of the total used on the project. And for 30% of the wood on the project, we can tell the stories of those who cared for it every step of the way.

“Conservation is about management. Everything that's living and breathing, you have to take care of it,” explains Carla Keene, chairman of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. “It gives back if you take care of it. That's what our ancestors did, and it's what I believe that we're doing.” (Check out the full story from all of our tribal partners here, in their own words.)

Jacob Dunn - ZGF Architects

Skokomish Indian Tribe

Cow Creek Umpqua

Cristy Fiander - Yakama Forest Products

“I want people to know that the Yakama people and our ancestors are from this area. And we are still here.”
—Cristy Fiander, Yakama Forest Products

With local wood, crafty builders made the roof in 18 individual pieces.

4. Construction Puzzle

Imagine installing a new roof over a busy airport

Construction pros worked with engineers to come up with a unique modular approach for installing the roof piece by piece, explains Brad Harrison, senior manager of engineering and construction at the Port of Portland. “You can’t just stick-build this type of structure over an active airport.”

After local crews built the roof in modules, each piece had to be carefully slid in place like a cassette, one at a time. Oh, and it all had to be done while most of the region slept. “Achieving the level of precision to safely install the roof in 18 pieces — each weighing more than 600,000 pounds and some the size of a football field — was remarkable.”

“Each move had to be carefully choreographed — and done in the middle of the night.”
—Brad Harrison, Port of Portland

In all, it amounts to the largest public works project in Oregon’s history: 30,000 workers of all different trades built every part of the new main terminal from the roof down to the floors. And around 150 small businesses completed many essential roles in the construction process. (Check out a big list of all the PDX makers here.)

three scissor lifts working in roof beams

Val Solorzano and team - C.O.A.T. Flagging

100% local shops and restaurants fill the new spaces alongside art inspired by our region.

“People love the airport because it's a concentrated glimpse of the region: the food, the music, the art, even film.”
—Yoonhee Choi, artist

5. Neighborhood Vibes

Artists and small businesses add the local flavor

Yoonhee Choi is one of the artists bringing us 20 new public artworks and a dedicated gallery to the new spaces. The Port of Portland worked with organizations like the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to work with artists throughout the region and beyond. Yoonhee’s first permanent public installation, “Between” comprises two long glass walls, with whimsical collages which she’s intentionally left open to interpretation — or, as she puts it, for travelers to “fill with their own stories.”

23 out of 23 of the new shops and restaurants are local, including returning favorites like Blue Star Donuts and new hangout Loyal Legion. “PDX is looking to really celebrate local businesses,” says Jessica Silverman, managing director at ChefStable, which is bringing 96 taps of Oregon beer to PDX with the new Loyal Legion mezzanine bar. (Check out all the new and coming soon spots here.)

Jackie and Jessica sitting on the bar clinking beers together

Jessica Silverman and Jackie Pulka - Loyal Legion and ChefStable

Pendleton Woolen Mills

Lola's Cafe Bar

Blue Star Donuts

“You’ll see us making fresh donuts, then right across the way see Grassa making fresh pasta. It feels like Portland.”
—Stephanie Thornton, Blue Star Donuts

The outdoors inspired the designs, so we brought them indoors.

6. Park Life

Plant people brought a little PNW inside

Locally sourced designs? Check. Neighborhood vibes? Check. All that’s left is to bring the calming nature indoors, too. As you pass through a cluster of real-life trees thriving under the skylights, the people who carefully selected dozens of plant types hope you get a sense that you’re in a local park.

That, of course, required a lot of strategic thinking, too, as most regional flora won’t naturally survive indoors — so the team at the Portland-based landscape firm PLACE searched for botanical “dupes” that would happily live in the busy airport. Even if you’re not a green thumb, the new green spaces support a more calming and laid-back feeling in busy airport zones. More green, less stress, and PLACE hopes you love it.

“We wanted to evoke PNW landscapes so it felt like you arrived before you left the airport.”
—J.P. Paull, PLACE

For a lot of us, the new spaces at PDX would hardly feel complete without the old-school carpet.

“That's why we decided to bring it back.”
—Vince Granato, Port of Portland

7. Now, your turn

Shoe selfies, meet roof selfies?

It’s Portland’s airport, so you know we had to mention the Insta-famous flooring materials. Yes — the old-school carpet style is coming back, very much by popular demand. It only felt right. You’ll find the carpet in 10 locations throughout the new main terminal (carpet is used in lounging areas, while terrazzo and other flooring is in high traffic areas to improve both accessibility and the ease of rolling your suitcase wheels along).

But everybody who worked on the new spaces at PDX feels there’s going to be plenty more to check out beyond the beloved flooring materials — or even the roof. It’s all about the local brands, the local character, and the local culture that makes PDX unlike any other airport.

So, yes, you’ll find the old-school carpet. But look up, too, at what the region built together — by locals, with Pacific Northwest pride, and a warm welcome to everybody. And, sure, go ahead and take a roof selfie if it feels right.

Aaron and Bryan Sterling - Sterling Floors

“I think people’s attention is going to go upward. You can quote me on that.”
—Sharron van der Meulen, ZGF