LaGuardia Airport’s new Terminal B is the top-to-bottom transformation of one of the highest-profile terminals. The transparent, fluid design celebrates movement and arrivals while conveying a strong civic presence in a city known for its remarkable architecture. The new terminal ushers in an ambitious new era of mobility, travel and public celebration. Its verticality, scale and sense of the new echo the monumentality of the city itself.
The original basis of design provided for the competition suggested a headhouse with traditional finger concourses. The LaGuardia Gateway Partners team, with HOK for design, proposed an alternate, bold vision to create two island concourses accessed through two 450- and 550-foot-long by 35-foot-wide pedestrian bridges.
The island-and-bridges scheme dramatically increased the efficiency of airport operations by locating the new terminal closer to the Grand Central Parkway. This recaptured 40 acres of land for airside operations and aircraft movement. The bridge solution also reduced the construction schedule by two years and minimized the impact to ongoing airport operations. The simpler, faster construction phasing offered significant savings in construction costs.
Terminal B celebrates arrivals and departures with equal emphasis, challenging the industry practice of reserving the most monumental spaces for departures while relegating arrivals to low-ceilinged, basement-like zones. Incoming and outgoing passengers share soaring, airy, grand-scaled sequences punctuated by lofty spaces and floor-to-ceiling windows that fill the space with daylight and enhance visibility and wayfinding. The designers used daylight purposedly to highlight major circulation and transitions between secure and non-secure areas through a continuous clearstory.
As the world’s first airport to earn LEED v4 Gold certification, Terminal B has helped pioneer sustainability measures for civil infrastructure projects. With an Envision Platinum rating (the highest possible), it is the first project to earn recognition under v3 of the framework developed by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.
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