Quick update: This article was written in 2021. The new PDX is here! Want to meet it?
There’s one lush scene everyone will experience at PDX when the new terminal opens in 2024: a park-like environment filled with live trees, understory ferns and dappled rays pouring in from the overhead skylights. Architects call this area the “seam,” because it will mark your pathway from the ticket lobby into the public market and security checkpoints beyond. But this seam is more enchanting than its low-key nickname might imply.
“It’ll be the Instagram moment,” says Lia Peacock, designer at ZGF, with a laugh. In other words, the vibe of the space will probably draw our attention away from those customary shoe selfies. (Don’t worry: The airport will still have plenty of carpet, along with other flooring materials better suited to certain new spaces.) There’s a Pacific Northwest wow factor to the main terminal designs that Lia hopes travelers experience when they pass through it for the first time. She calls it an “immersive forest experience,” which sounds like our kind of thing.
The seam is only one of several airport designs we’re getting a closer look at in this series of new visuals, delivered to you fresh from the architects’ desks. These images, which we’re officially unveiling here, give you a preview of the future views. They also hint at a pretty lofty goal: Create a flexible, open and inviting terminal that not only serves the region for years to come, but also embodies the PDX spirit.
“My experience with airports is that they’re typically just a place to pass through, and the experience is not that exciting,” says Christian Schoewe, architect at ZGF. “I genuinely feel like this reimagined main terminal will be a destination that embodies the ‘walk in the forest’ concept we’ve been talking about. Even if you are just passing through, we hope your experience will feel relaxed rather than rushed.”
To get our bearings, we asked several members of the ZGF architecture team to walk us through the new designs — that’s a figurative walk for now. But the context they share might give you a bit more insight into what a stroll through the main terminal will one day look like.
View from above
We’ll start our tour of the new designs with a little levitation: From this eastward-facing vantage, you see the west side of the completed new main terminal. “The thing that probably stands out the most to people when they look at this is the curvature of the roof,” says Rena Simon, designer at ZGF. “And really, that all started from thinking about the scale of this terminal and not wanting it to feel like one giant space, but actually a series of rooms.” So even as the interiors become more spacious and flexible, the designers are taking care to keep the intimate PDX feeling.
The timber roof
Next, let’s zoom in closer on the west side of the terminal. Here we see the mass-timber roof: a lattice design inspired by local weaving traditions and crafted from sustainably harvested timber. In fact, every lattice piece will be traceable back to its forest of origin — a love letter to the small families, Pacific Northwest tribes and other landowners that contributed to the project. Even in this vast space, you can envision yourself sipping Willamette Valley wine in the upper mezzanine or hanging out with your kids in the comfy chairs on the lower level. “This really captures how we take this sprawling space, but break it down into segments that don’t feel overbearing,” says Christian. “That’s what I like about the forest analogy: You may feel small next to a towering Douglas fir, but the layers of the forest canopy make you feel at ease.”
The airport’s new park
Now we have our backs to the ticket halls, where travelers drop their luggage before heading toward the security checkpoints. “We used the landscape as a wayfinding tool,” Lia says. “Passengers will know where they are. The landscape also signals where they need to go to reach their destination.” Here’s where you might get the sensation of wandering through one of the Portland area’s many greenspaces. Everything down to the selection of plants is intended to evoke that sense of place. ZGF teamed with landscape architects at PLACE to select plants that not only could survive in this bustling environment, but also resemble Pacific Northwest trees, ferns and other leafy plant life. (Most of the region’s native flora would not thrive inside planters or the airport’s busy environments.)
The hanging gardens of PDX
“Once you’ve made your way through security, you’re offered this view to the airfield and the surrounding landscapes,” says Rena in describing this southern edge of the terminal. A wall currently blocks this view. Opening the space offers a moment to pause. It also celebrates the romance of flying — giving families a prime vantage to watch planes landing and taking off on the airfield. ZGF assures us those big chairs are as cozy as they look — and a lot more comfortable than most furniture in other airports. Rena says even the rays will be gentle and soft, as the wood screens and overhead “hanging gardens” are all about providing “visual comfort and beautiful daylight.”
Future favorite hangout spot
“Did you say your gate is in Concourse C? Well, look at that — it’s right over there. And we’ve got some time to spare. How about we grab something at this cafe first?” OK, none of the architects said any of that. But it sounds like the sort of thing we could say to each other when we pass one of the many restaurants and shops inside the new terminal, which will have more room dedicated to local businesses. This rendering shows one of those dining areas inspired by Portland’s cafe scene, those “third places” that a lot of us have missed spending time in over the course of the pandemic. Thankfully, in the not-so-distant future, we might bump into you chilling in one of those rusty-orange chairs before your flight. “This is going to be a really nice spot to hang out,” Lia says. And we’ve got to agree.
Tom Strong - Chief Executive Officer, Skokomish Indian Tribe, Skokomish Washington
"We're foresters in that we're stewards," says Tom Strong, Chief Executive Officer of the Skokomish Indian Tribe, which manages 2,000 acres of Washington forests for its 800 tribal members. "We're not cutting and planting, seeking to develop our lands into a commodity. Instead, we're doing it to restore the forest."
Over the past 100 years, the two dams on the North Fork Skokomish River have had a major impact on the entire ecosystem of Skokomish land. "We want to restore the entire Hood Canal watershed," Tom says. The forests are just one part.
Selling wood from Douglas fir trees the tribe selectively thinned will help fund this restoration. "We don't have an endless amount of money," Tom says. "But we would like to think we've got an endless amount of time."
Ben Hayes - Co-owner, Hyla Woods, Cherry Grove, Oregon
Ben Hayes is a sixth-generation forester who manages Hyla Woods, outside Cherry Grove, Oregon, with his father, Peter. He is also a sustainable-forestry consultant. At Hyla Woods, the Hayes experiment with selective thinning and patch cutting, instead of clear-cutting, to foster diversity of tree species, ages, and sizes.
"When you look 100 years out, having greater complexity in terms of species and the structure of the forest, you can increase the forest's resilience in the face of extreme weather and drought," he says.
"We're working toward a model of forestry that you could practice for the perpetual future,” Ben says. “It's a model that lifts up both rural and urban communities and the ecosystems we rely on."
Richard and Ann Hanschu - Owners, Doneen, Forest Grove, Oregon
Ann Hanschu's father first bought land outside Forest Grove, Oregon, in 1956. Ann grew up trailing her father around the forest, learning from him. The Hanschus now have three children, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Richard says, "We're planting trees that our grandchildren will see the profits from — not even our children. It's long-range thinking."
"A lot of the timber is older,” Ann adds. “We're laddering it with trees of different age groups — some 30-40 years old, some 10-20 years old — so the land can continue to produce a sustainable amount of wood."
Herman Flamenco - Central Cascades Conservation Forester, The Nature Conservancy, Cle Elum, Washington
"We know historically that the stands we're working on were overstocked," says Herman Flamenco, Central Cascades conservation forester for the Nature Conservancy, of the 50,000 acres outside Cle Elum, Washington, the organization manages. Thinning the trees welcomes in light and biodiversity.
Some loggers in the region worry that this low-impact approach to forestry yields less lumber, and less profit, than clear-cutting. One local outfit took on this labor-intensive challenge, selectively harvesting Doug fir trees from steep slopes.
"Western Washington is wetter. In our dry climate, there's less moisture and increased fire risk," Herman says. "As we look at climate change, it's just going to get dryer. We want to make sure we can keep our forests around."
In the 1950s, back when people wore fancy hats to the airport, PDX’s main terminal had brown terrazzo floors.
By the 1970s, blue carpet sporting the old Port of Portland logo replaced the terrazzo. The airport was so concerned about keeping the carpet clean that we banned gum-chewing indoors.
In the 1980s, PDX replaced the ski-chalet paneling in the Clocktower Plaza with high ceilings and skylights, but kept the blue carpet.
SRG Partnership, a Portland-based architecture firm, designed the pattern for the now-iconic carpet on the layout of the airport runways.
The Clocktower Plaza, post-1988, with the iconic carpet.
The Clocktower Plaza (before its demolition in 2021-22) with the new carpet.
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.
PDX’s swanky new bar, Juliett, honors women in aviation with mid-20th-century style, top-class cocktails, and local wines and beers.
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.
Concourse B's 38-foot-high ceilings and 6,900 square feet of windows don't just let light in. They let you watch the airport in action. "I think this airport gave us a chance to celebrate the romance of flight," says Gene Sandoval of ZGF, the architecture firm that designed the new concourse.
ZGF Architects was inspired to bring the Pacific Northwest’s natural world indoors. You can contemplate the plants hanging from the ceiling and the Oregon white-oak walls as you relax in B’s comfy new seats. (Bonus: More power adapters!)
RYAN! Feddersen’s art installation, which fills the concourse, is made up of three interconnected pieces. The “Sentinel” landscapes and abstract “Habitat Tiles” are pictured here.
RYAN! is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. She draws inspiration from the region’s traditions and landscape for these pieces, which include the gently rolling “Cloud Walk” overhead.
Nicole and David Mouton, in partnership with HMSHost, opened an outpost of Portland’s beloved Screen Door Restaurant on Concourse B. Find Screen Door’s legendary fried chicken and waffles here from breakfast until dinnertime.
Sam and Nick Purvis, the brothers behind Good Coffee, source fresh coffee beans and teas from all over the world. Pick up a pastry or a bag of beans, too!
Our new rental car center opened in November 2021.
All rental car brands are now on-site at PDX – no more shuttles to pick up your car.
Perez Westbrooks' colorful digital mural celebrates Northwest flora.
Ben Butler's swirling wood sculpture is made from reclaimed Douglas fir.
The new facility also adds 30 ADA parking spots, more than 30 electric vehicle charging stations, and 2,200 long-term parking spaces to the airport.
Adding more lanes to our new, relocated exit toll plaza helps you leave PDX more quickly.
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.
You’ll notice subtle nods to the Pacific Northwest landscape throughout the space. Natural light, living trees, and native Oregon foliage may give you the feeling of walking through a park.
The new terminal’s wooden ceiling, made from sustainably grown, local Doug fir, might remind you of daylight filtering through forest canopies.
This will be your new view when entering the spacious ticket lobby at PDX. The nine-acre wood roof is so distinctive you’ll be able to spot it from the air.
The ripples and currents of pristine Northwest rivers inspired the new terminal’s curvy profile.
Expanding the heart of PDX creates more space for our beloved local shops and restaurants — not to mention local humans (and visitors, too).