Portland International Airport opens new main terminal made from local wood

Today, arriving and departing travelers at Portland International Airport (PDX) will see the new main terminal for the first time. Built and designed by more than 30,000 local artisans, the new PDX has twice the capacity.

Portland International Airport is the first major airport in the United States with a solid wood roof, with at least the secondary beam structure and the roof terrace made of solid wood elements.

The use of mass timber at the airport is a natural choice. Not only has it made PDX a highly sustainable and beautiful public building, but the performance also reflects the industry’s values ​​of environmental stewardship, climate action and regional equity.

A local design team wanted the new space to feel more like a stroll through a local park and less like a run-of-the-mill shopping mall. The team was led by Sharron van der Meulen and Gene Sandoval, partners at Portland-based ZGF Architects.

Wood for the roof comes from forests within a 300-mile radius, including partnerships with four local tribes. Sources include many family-owned forests, the Nature Conservancy, the Yakama Nation, the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Skokomish Indian Tribe and the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians.

This level of traceability is unheard of in projects of this kind: 72 percent of the wood comes from landowners certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or practicing ecological forestry. And tribal wood accounts for 16 percent of the total used for the project.