Domestic and foreign airlines serving the U.S. carried an all-time high of 965 million passengers in 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Airports Council International estimates that 8.8 billion flyers used airports worldwide last year, up 6.6%.
Airport operators everywhere are scrambling to keep pace. “Construction and expansion of airports is growing at a rate of 5–10% or more around the world,” says Jay Fraser, Vice President/General Manager of Turner Construction’s Aviation Group. Turner is adding a three-level, 50,500-sm international port at Cam Ranh International Terminal in Vietnam to handle 2.5 million passengers a year.
Turner and PLC Construction Services are working on the Federal Inspection Services (FIS) Relocation and Expansion project at San Diego International Airport’s Terminal 2 West, which will house Customs and Border Protection services.
U.S. AEC aviation-sector firms are benefiting from the high level of deferred investment in infrastructure, airline profitability, and the strength of the dollar, note Keith Thompson and Terence Young, Principals in Gensler’s Los Angeles office.
See also: Top 45 Airport Facilities Architecture + AE Firms - 2018 Giants 300 rankings
See also: Top 55 Airport Facilities Engineering + EA Firms - 2018 Giants 300 rankings
See also: Top 55 Airport Facilities Contractors + CM Firms - 2018 Giants 300 rankings
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is lead designer for the new 450,000-sf International Arrivals Facility at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It will add eight gates for widebody aircraft and 50 more passport checkbooths and kiosks.
AEC firms that practice design-build or integrated design delivery methods and are open to public-private partnerships are in the sweet spot for airport projects. “Clients are looking at delivery models that save money and time,” says Bijan Pashanamaei, PE, Director of AECOM Global Aviation.
He notes that the design and build portions for the modernization of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s Terminal 3 were wrapped into a single contract that included DWL Architects + Planners, SmithGroupJJR, and Corgan.
AEC firms are using quicker delivery methods incorporating modular and prefabricated components. “Many clients start with the desire for modular construction," meaning offsite assembly to minimize on-site disruption to ongoing operations, says SOM Director Derek Moore. “This makes sense at very busy airports with little elbow room for traditional construction.”
Mortenson Construction used “substantial fabrication” to deliver an Alternate Utility Facility to support Port of Seattle’s SeaTac airport in the case of disruptive high-wind events, says Mark Baughmam, DBIA, LEED AP, a Construction Executive with Mortenson.
using technology to ease travel anxiety
Turner's Jay Fraser calls technology “the most critical design advancement” for airports. At the FIS facility in San Diego, interactive wayfinding displays and self-boarding gates that
enable planes to load without attendants are being installed.
One new feature at airport gates is a “hearing loop,” which wirelessly transmits boarding announcements to hearing-impaired passengers via their hearing aids or cochlear implants.
“The expectation of technology continues to grow project to project,” says Michael C. Braun, AIA, LEED AP, Executive Vice President with DWL. “Almost every seat has access to power, and the Wi-Fi has excellent coverage. The design must integrate these components in a way that allows them to operate without undermining the architectural features.”
shopping malls with planes
Airports are also revving up their retail and food services. “Unlike struggling malls, airports have a constant source of potential shoppers,” says Kelsey Chesney, Vice President and Senior Brand Strategist, FRCH Design Worldwide.
The design of travel retail has been shifting from a purely efficient, commodity-based model to a targeted, experienced-based one, says Kevin Horn, LEED GA, CallisonRTKL’s Vice President. Airport store designs are showcasing unique local merchandise. “Shop-in-shop” layouts highlight brands and allow flyers to engage products physically and digitally.
Horn notes that some travelers actually route their trips through two of his firm’s recent projects—Inchon International Airport in South Korea and Changi International in Singapore—to take advantage of their expansive retail offerings.
Airports, says Chesney, are becoming “self-contained cities” and homes away from home for frequent flyers. Fitness and wellness centers are popping up in airports. SOM’s Moore is seeing children’s play areas, ubiquitous electrical outlets, premium lounges, and short-term sleeping rooms.
See Also: Retail's age of experimentation
“Adding seasonal outdoor spaces post security, interior landscaping and water features, and commissioned works of art are fast developing as distinguishing features of terminal design to create a sense of place,” says Moore.
In some of its recent airport projects, Gensler has introduced a town square concept that offers spaces for concerts, fashion shows, dance presentations, and local artists’ exhibits, along with meditation and yoga rooms.
This “sense of place” extends to how an airport building is positioned vis-à-vis its outdoor surroundings. DWL’s design for Scottsdale (Ariz.) Airport’s new 23,898-sf Aviation Business Center, says Braun, integrates shaded glass façades to enhance visitors' views of the nearby McDowell Mountains.
This $27 million Terminal Area Redevelopment project, which will expand two hangars, is transforming Scottsdale Airport from a corporate, general aviation reliever facility into "a community resource and a point of pride for the city,” says Braun.
Related Stories
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Heathrow Airport could become a city of 190,000 inhabitants
New plans have been introduced to turn London's Heathrow Airport into a city. If those plans ever come to fruition, "Heathrow City" could support 90,000 jobs and 190,000 people. It could also add almost $13 billion to the UK economy.
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.
| Jul 18, 2014
Contractors warm up to new technologies, invent new management schemes [2014 Giants 300 Report]
“UAV.” “LATISTA.” “CMST.” If BD+C Giants 300 contractors have anything to say about it, these new terms may someday be as well known as “BIM” or “LEED.” Here’s a sampling of what Giant GCs and CMs are doing by way of technological and managerial innovation.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Construction Management Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, Barton Malow, Hill International top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest construction management and project management firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Contractors [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, Whiting-Turner, Skanska top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest contractors in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Engineering firms look to bolster growth through new services, technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following solid revenue growth in 2013, the majority of U.S.-based engineering and engineering/architecture firms expect more of the same this year, according to BD+C’s 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering/Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering/architecture firms in the United States.