Category: Published News

Taking design inspiration from popular community destinations to design feel-good airports for passengers and employees.

What do passengers want? This question has long been asked by airport stakeholders and designers alike, and the response is generally a familiar list of features – comfortable seating, good food, natural lighting, local flair, and so on.

For Fentress Architects the answer to this question is summed up in a single sentence: passengers want to look forward to spending time in the airport terminal, just as they do to arriving at their destination.

Knowing that architecture is central to delivering an enjoyable airport terminal experience, the Fentress design team draws inspiration from places where people choose to spend their free time, such as coffee shops, cultural centers, shopping districts, and parks.

Taking design cues from places that are central to our daily lives offers a range of benefits. Innovative integration of these features can deliver benefits that are conceptual and functional—such as improving building performance and passenger experience simultaneously. It can also create an airport environment that celebrates what is special about a region, giving passengers a distinctly local experience.

Los Angeles Airport’s Bradley West

The extension of the Tom Bradley International Terminal—”Bradley West”—achieves this level of passenger experience, with a design that is quintessentially LA. Since its opening in 2016, TBIT has made passengers feel special, offering them a touch of red-carpet treatment.

The rolling roofline—reminiscent of cresting ocean waves—is created from a series of overlapping vaults that form clerestories on the north and east facades. The building’s orientation brings an abundance of diffused daylight into the airy terminal and concourses, improving building performance while brightening passenger spirits. Along the perimeter, exterior sunshades reduce solar glare and heat gain so passengers can comfortably enjoy the breathtaking panorama of the airport and the Santa Monica Mountains beyond.

Fentress Architects designed the 150,000 square foot signature Great Hall to offer a bounty of amenities worthy of a world-class creative hub. A multi-screen video installation captivates children and adults alike with curated videos that highlight the area’s urban and natural environment. Play areas provide families with fun places to take their restless children. Changing art installations further add to the distinctive sense of place and offer passengers new experiences on subsequent visits.

And, of course, an LA experience would not be complete without name-brand boutiques and premier eateries. By prioritizing passenger experience throughout the design, TBIT redefined and refined the traditional airport layout.

Orlando Airport’s Terminal C

With soaring lines and sweeping vistas, the new Terminal C opened in 2022, delivering a distinct sense of place that delivers The Orlando Experience®. The essence of Sky, Water, and Flora were aesthetically integrated in the design to showcase the natural beauty of central Florida and to provide an unprecedented first and last impression of Orlando.

Fentress Architects applied urban design principles to create human-scale spaces that support passenger health and wellbeing through the integration of biophilic elements. With its continuous skylight of varying blue frits, a Boulevard stretching 1000 feet serves as the main circulation spine and offers two plaza-like spaces—Town Square and Palm Court—that provide comfortable seating arrangements for passengers to relax.

Palm Court features a dynamic multi-media installation called the Moment Vault, delivering an interactive experience that delights passengers of all ages. The entire route, from concourse to curbside, is brought to life with abundant daylight that dapples through palm fronds and skylights to enliven the arrival experience.

Arriving domestic passengers deplane onto spacious concourses flanked by expansive windows, and an elevated glass corridor greets international travelers, helping re-adjust circadian rhythms after their long journeys. Additional biophilic design elements can be seen in furniture and millwork with nature-inspired palettes. Retail and concessions utilize wood frame portals to create a holistic design, and furniture is covered in calming shades of blue and seafoam green with wooden side tables and benches.

Nashville Airport’s Terminal Lobby and International Arrival Facility

Nashville’s expanded Terminal Lobby and International Arrivals Facility opened in 2023, the largest of seven projects that will deliver the BNA® Vision of a state-of-the-art airport to meet the needs of Middle Tennessee today and well into the future.

An elegant, undulating roof canopy extends a friendly southern welcome to Music City visitors, providing intuitive, passenger-friendly navigation from curbside to gate—including a covered pedestrian bridge that takes people safely to and from the parking garage, avoiding the busy pick up and drop off traffic below. Clad on the underside with a warm wood tone, this central spine features a series of grand skylights that bathe the space in diffused daylight. Clerestory windows with electrochromic glass reduce solar and heat load in the west-facing concourse.

The 780,000 square foot Terminal Lobby offers passengers a distinctly Nashville experience, with a Marketplace that features dining and retail amenities with a local flair—as well as services that enhance time spent in the airport. Gender-inclusive restrooms and dedicated mothers’ rooms provide much-appreciated contemporary elements.

Of course, it goes without saying that happy employees are also important for passenger happiness. To meet the demands of both, BNA’s expanded and consolidated security screening checkpoint minimizes wait times, and a new Customs and Border Protection zone accommodates 800 passengers per hour using the latest in biometric technology. Overhead, a 650 square foot artwork extends a heartfelt “Welcome to Nashville.”

The international terminal needed to remain fully operational throughout design and construction, so it was also essential to maintain a comfortable environment for passengers and employees alike throughout that time. To expedite construction, the roof was raised by strategically placing six columns with the world’s second-largest crane—a herculean task that was performed at night to avoid inconveniencing passengers.