Rarely does an airport terminal make you want to move (or, in our case, move back) to a city. Or make you cry.
But those are the emotions evoked by the Portland International Airport’s (PDX) new main terminal.
Not that old main terminal was so terrible.
We loved that one too. But for different reasons having to with everything from ice-cream, carpeting, shopping, wildlife and matters of the heart.
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But the new main terminal is something else
(Ema Peter photography)
Building a new main terminal at Portland International Airport took 11-years, a budget of $2.15 billion and the inspired creativity of the designers at ZGF.
A lot happened during those 11 years – including the COVID pandemic. Yet the project finished on-time and on-budget without a single day of closure due to construction.
It’s the largest public infrastructure in Oregon’s history. And now the Port of Portland has declared the multi-award-winning project done.
(credit: ema peter)
What’s so great about the Main Terminal at PDX?
It has a truly impressive 9-acre mass timber roof that evokes the feeling of walking through a Pacific Northwest forest.
There are plenty views the airfield, skylights that offer natural light, a bevy of great local food and dining options, art installations, live trees and thousands of live plants.
Some of our favorite spaces include the stadium seating in the center of the terminal, the lounge areas featuring the return of the famous PDX carpet pattern and the restrooms with skylights.
(credit: Celeste Noche)
(credit: Celeste Noche)
(credit Ema Peter)
The main terminal isn’t the only project PDX has completed. As part of its PDX Next project, the Port of Portland has built a new rental car facility, revamped concourses, new parking structure, and more.
Next? Baggage claim upgrades that the Port of Portland says will make the journey through Portland International Airport “smoother, brighter and a little more PDX-y.”
(Feature image credit: Ema Peter)
