The Timber Heart of PDX: A Journey Through Portland’s Airport Transformation

When you live in Portland, your relationship with nature is non-negotiable. You don’t just visit the trees—you build your entire life around them, and sometimes, you literally live inside them. At least, that’s what it feels like now when you step into the newly revamped Portland International Airport (PDX).

After what felt like an eternity of construction—because let’s be honest, living in Portland is synonymous with detours and “closed for renovations” signs—the main terminal at PDX has finally unveiled its ambitious redesign. This isn’t just any remodel. We’re talking about 3,300 cubic meters of mass timber, making this airport a veritable forest you can get lost in before you even reach the baggage claim.

Now, let’s talk numbers, because we all know they matter. The main terminal spans an eye-popping 175,000 square feet, and this isn’t just space; it’s sustainable space. Crafted with Oregon’s locally sourced timber, this redesign is as much a tribute to the state’s natural beauty as it is to modern engineering. As you walk through, the wood almost breathes with the stories of the forests it came from—until you remember it’s been milled, processed, and shipped here to make your 7 a.m. flight feel more like a woodland stroll than a gauntlet of TSA lines.

ZGF Architects, the brains behind this massive undertaking, have outdone themselves. They’ve somehow managed to make an airport terminal feel intimate. Maybe it’s the high ceilings, which stretch up to 90 feet, or maybe it’s the way the light filters through the expansive skylights, casting soft, warm hues across the space. The terminal is bright, airy, and just the right side of pretentious—sort of like Portland itself.

Of course, all this comes with the territory of being Portland: where you can’t just have an airport, you have to have an airport that’s “green” enough to make a Prius blush. But to their credit, they’ve nailed it. The terminal’s design is expected to reduce operational carbon emissions by 45%, and as you wait for your flight to New York or wherever you’re escaping to, you can’t help but feel a little smug about that.

And then there’s the experience itself. PDX has always been known for being a little different (remember the carpet that became an Instagram celebrity?). But now, stepping into the terminal feels like you’ve been transported to some utopian version of the Pacific Northwest. The airport isn’t just a gateway; it’s a destination.

For those of us who’ve always felt a pang of anxiety about air travel, this new terminal feels like the best possible antidote. You’ll still get your overpriced coffee and pre-flight jitters, but at least now, you’ll have 100,000 square feet of greenery and wood to calm your nerves. So, while you wait for your delayed flight—because let’s face it, no amount of timber can fix airline inefficiencies—you can lose yourself in the architecture, appreciating the effort it took to make an airport feel almost, dare I say it, cozy.

As Designboom aptly put it, ZGF’s work is “a marriage of regional identity and modern functionality.” It’s a bold claim, but one that feels just about right when you’re standing in the middle of it, listening to the hum of passengers who, for once, seem more at ease than usual. Maybe it’s the timber. Maybe it’s the light. Or maybe it’s just that Portland has once again managed to turn something as mundane as an airport terminal into an experience worth writing home about.

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