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 craftspeople, the new PDX has double the capacity.
The Portland International Airport is the first major airport in the US with a mass timber roof, where at least the secondary beam structure and roof deck are mass timber elements.
The use of mass timber at the airport is a natural choice. It made PDX not only a highly sustainable and beautiful civic building, the accomplishment also reflects industry’s values around environmental stewardship, climate action, and regional equity.
A local team of designers wanted the new spaces to feel more like a stroll in a local park and less like a generic shopping mall. That team was led by Sharron van der Meulen and Gene Sandoval — partners at Portland’s own ZGF Architects.
The 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, Yakama Nation, Coquille Indian Tribe, Skokomish Indian Tribe, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
This traceability is unheard of in projects of this kind: 72% of the wood comes from landowners that are Forest Stewardship Council-certified or practicing ecological forestry. And tribal wood makes up 16% of the total used on the project.
Image: ZGF Architects
