2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 74

story goes beyond sustainable design and
timber certification.
Reduce Impact
Expanding passenger capacity through
multiple terminals can be costly and
carbon intensive, and can require duplication
of many systems and services. PDX's
decision to renovate in place and expand
the existing terminal helped solve many of
those challenges.
By reusing much of the existing terminal,
and utilizing wood, steel, and
salvaged materials, we achieved a 70
percent reduction in the embodied carbon
footprint of the structure. For example, we
maintained the existing baggage operations
system, with 12 existing operating
structures linked via the existing systems.
A highly efficient envelope solves for
multiple goals, increasing energy efficiency
while also enriching passenger
thermal and visual comfort. The combination
of natural and LED lighting also
contributes to the airport's 50-percent
reduction in energy usage, even as the
new terminal doubles its footprint. Fortynine
skylights provide daylight to 60 percent
of the terminal, even under cloudy
Portland skies, and embody the lighting
conditions of Pacific Northwest forests.
The long-span mass timber roof
structure was also designed to create
large 100-foot-by-150-foot (30 m by 46
m) bays between columns. Doing so
left more existing infrastructure in place,
saving time and money during construction,
and the spans allow seamless passenger
flow and provide long-term flexibility
and ease adaptation of each space
as operational standards or passenger
needs evolve.
Strengthen Resilience
For PDX, sustainability also meant building
an airport that will last. The structural
system is designed to minimize significant
damage, even in a major earthquake. This
move is critical, given the airport's location
within the Cascadia subduction zone.
The massive, 380,000-square-foot (35,303
sq m) and 18-million-pound (8.1 million kg)
timber canopy is held up by 34 Y-shaped
columns designed to let the roof structure
move laterally-up to 24 inches (3.8 m)-
during a seismic event.
Considering airports as important
civic buildings reinforces why they must
be designed to last: they are big investments.
Their scale means they play a role
in the broader region's resilience, too. One
key project goal was to source the wood
locally and sustainably, and to track the
wood products back to their forest of
origin. The goal set the project team on
a trajectory that cultivated transparency
in the wood supply chain, and dialogue
directly with landowners and mills to
ensure all timber-2.6 million board feet-
used in the expanded terminal's glulam
and lattice roof was sourced from Oregon
and Washington forests within 300 miles
(483 km) of PDX. Roughly one million
board feet of the roof can be traced
directly back to 13 landowners-small
family forests, local tribes, nonprofits,
community forests, university experimental
forests, and publicly owned land.
PDX's wood-sourcing story speaks
to the region's economic recovery and
long-term stability-not just for the timber
industry, which benefits from the design
industry's shift toward more sustainable
mass timber, but for the Portland community
as a whole.
Never Stop Improving
PDX is a beloved airport, named America's
top domestic airport in Travel +
Leisure's annual World's Best Awards
several times over. It's long been praised
for its design, amenities, accessibility, and
cleanliness, with readers underscoring its
emphasis on local businesses and artists.
Some might be tempted to rest on
these laurels. To us, this precedent simply
put the pressure on to deliver something
better than the standard already set. After
all, what if PDX could be considered the
best airport in the world, not just the U.S.?
By expanding our view to consider the
airport's relationship with the region at
large, and then thinking carefully of each
person who enters and enjoys PDX every
day, we're building a responsible, sustainable,
and resilient connection between
people and place-one we know will last.
UL
Considering airports as important civic buildings reinforces why they must be
designed to last: they are big investments. Their scale means they play a role in
broader regional resilience, too.
74
URBAN LAND SUMMER 202 4
SHARRON VAN DER MEULEN and
GENE SANDOVAL are partners of the design firm ZGF.
ZG F
2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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