First look: New designs for PDX take inspiration from the region
Published October 01, 2020
Designers have unveiled their vision for the new main terminal at PDX. This early rendering shows the more spacious ticket lobby, which optimizes for wellbeing and passenger flow.
Fast forward to 2025: You’ve just landed at PDX and it’s your first time stepping into the new main terminal, as insiders often call the airport’s central hub. As you glimpse the bright space, you spot details that already feel familiar: Soft daylight filters through the wooden roof, almost like light filtering through a forest canopy. People gather in common areas that look more like city parks. And in almost every corner, you see touches of Oregon’s signature greenery.
If you get a little déjà vu, that’s by design. The sight of our region’s landscapes — and the calm it often brings — is a key inspiration for the architects working on the new main terminal. That’s according to Sharron van der Meulen, managing partner in the Portland office of ZGF.
“The inspiration we really looked to in the beginning was of the place, the natural environment, the really unique regions that we live in,” says Sharron, the lead designer for the project.
The new terminal's nature-infused interiors (and earthquake-resilient structure) emphasize our big goals: doubling down on health, wellbeing and safety. This milestone expansion will give us the flexibility to adapt to new technology and plenty of space to welcome the growing number of passengers we expect to see in the coming decades.
Here’s a quick preview of what’s inspiring these new PDX designs.
Taking a cue from our favorite trails
If you’re anything like the architects working with the airport, you probably spend a lot of your free time outside. (Hey, you might even have a few favorite trails in common.) With forests covering nearly half the state of Oregon, it feels like nature is everywhere we turn. It’s no surprise, then, that the new main terminal will bring elements of the great outdoors even closer to PDX. You see this especially in the most prominent design feature: the regionally sourced wooden roof. An homage to our region’s spirit of craftsmanship, the undulating roof stretches across the expanded lobby and ticket areas, with thoughtfully placed skylights mimicking sunrays peeking through evergreen trees.
What’s behind the new designs? Architects say the inspiration comes from the region’s many parks and the natural environments of the Pacific Northwest. (Credit: Thomas Shahan, left)
A little like Portland’s city blocks
Can you guess the typical size of Portland’s city blocks? If you answered 200 feet square, you might be an urban planner. Local urbanists like to talk about the density of our street grid — that’s because our relatively small blocks make Portland more walkable and compact than many other American cities. It’s one of the reasons our neighborhoods are fun to explore on foot.
Designs for the new main terminal take inspiration from the human-friendly scale of Portland’s blocks and the rhythm of your favorite neighborhoods. Expect to see independent storefronts clustered together along a tree-lined “street,” musicians strumming guitars on the corner and cafe seating spilling out onto patios. It’s PDX, inspired by the Portland places you love.
Look to Portland’s walkable neighborhoods and leafy streets for a sense of the future PDX experience. The new main terminal will have a familiar urban feel, with plenty of local shops and relaxing green spaces. (Credits: Justin Katigbak/Travel Portland, top left and right)
Designed with a sense of place
You might hear some of the leaders of this project mention "biophilic design." It's a concept that confirms what many Oregonians know intuitively: Introducing nature and natural elements into interior spaces can help reduce your blood pressure and make you feel more at ease. We’re doing that with the new main terminal design — incorporating leafy foliage, organic shapes and colors, and natural materials and finishes.
We want your future experiences at PDX to feel easy and relaxing. So in the new terminal, you’ll see plant life throughout and striking columns inspired by towering Douglas firs. Real-life trees will shade common areas and form a mini greenway in the core of the airport. It’s all a nod to the landscapes that remind us of home.
These new designs bring the places we love even closer to the heart of PDX.
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The flexible interior spaces were designed with the future of travel in mind — and to give you plenty of comfortable spots to recharge before your next flight.
Two permanent installations from acclaimed contemporary artist Jacob Hashimoto hang like clouds above the concourse’s common areas.
Shops and restaurants are clustered together like city blocks, with a pedestrian-friendly scale and lots of room to spread out.
Artist Jacob Hashimoto’s canopy of kite-like discs reflects the atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest, with locally inspired graphics incorporated throughout.
Sky-high windows fill the interior with daylight while maximizing the concourse extension’s energy efficiency.
At the east end of the concourse, a wall of windows opens up this epic view of Mt. Hood, where you’ll definitely want to pose for a photo before takeoff.
The Concourse E extension project is the dedicated home for Southwest Airlines at PDX, with six new gates.
Remember the view of Mt. Hood on Concourse E? It’s coming back, brighter than ever.
Tillamook’s menu includes the best of the classics with fried cheese curds and a signature grilled cheese.
Calliope takes its name from one of Oregon’s native hummingbirds and showcases creative and playful keepsakes.
Grab your favorite book, magazine or newspaper at Your Northwest Travel Mart.
Remember the feeling of walking through an Oregon forest for the first time?
That feeling inspired the design of the new Concourse B.
An early movement flow study for the new Concourse B.
The new Concourse B has great exposure to southern light.
Interior rendering for the new Concourse B.
The new Concourse B has Pacific Northwest touches like warm wood panels and indoor greenery.
Exterior rendering of the new Concourse B.
The six new ground loading gates for Alaska Airlines are bigger and brighter.
Our new rental car center opens in 2021.
Movable plants and furniture make the space flexible.
When the new rental car center opens in 2021, you won’t need a shuttle to pick up your car.
Interior acoustical materials help reduce noise.
The new facility also provides more long-term parking, new office spaces, and a new and relocated parking toll plaza building.
A new exit plaza opened in November 2019.
Every design decision we make is about keeping the heart and soul of PDX intact. You’ll see homages to all the things you love about our city and region in the new airport designs.
The new terminal’s wooden roof (as seen in this close-up rendering, right) might remind you of daylight filtering through forest canopies.
You’ll notice subtle nods to Pacific Northwest elements throughout the new space. The ripples and currents of our pristine rivers, for example, are inspiring the undulating flow of the wooden roof, as depicted in this architectural model (right).
We’re filling the new main terminal with a lot of Portland love — both in terms of regionally sourced materials and, well, doughnuts. (C’mon, what would PDX be without doughnuts?)
You’ll see a scene something like this when you enter the more spacious ticket lobby at PDX. This early architectural rendering previews the vision for the iconic wooden roof — inspired by Pacific Northwest nature, craft and our partly sunny skies.
Natural light, living trees and native Oregon foliage might give you the feeling of walking through a park, as this early architectural rendering shows.
Expanding the heart of the airport creates more spaces for the local shops and restaurants you love. Architects are thoughtfully planning these public spaces to resemble the human-friendly scale of your favorite Portland neighborhoods.