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Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

design-milk.com

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Re: Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

#31

Post by jeffbee »

rootusrootus wrote: post #24
brailsafe wrote: post #11

It looks incredible and I'll take the first chance I get to go check it out, but the cynic in me bets that the international arrivals/layover/security check area is still just as dull and depressing as any other in the states. 2 people barely churning through a line of 150 stressed travellers that need to get to their next gate in 45 mins. I'd consider paying a fair bit more if I have it next time to not transit thro…

100% agree, the international arrivals area is dreary and depressing. And slow. Get off the plane, go directly to a shuttle bus, drive around a while, then go in and wait in what was clearly never really intended to be an arrivals area. I gather than there are so few international arrivals that it will likely never be upgraded, but I sure would love to see the fancy face scanning electronic passport reader kiosks lik…

It's a miracle that Portland has direct international service at all. They probably had to bodge on the customs area after the place was built to pick up that route to Vancouver. Also good to keep in mind that a lot of older airports seem kludged together because they were. Fifty years ago passengers were screened at the gate. Then they invented central screening. Then they invented TSA and stopped letting non-passengers into the terminals.

Re: Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

#32

Post by ajross »

teruakohatu wrote: post #29

It looks beautiful. It talks about it being structural. Is it really? It looks more like a suspended ceiling below steel girders. Our largest airport (AKL) is in the process of rebuilding both domestic and international terminals. They are trying for a timber ceiling [1] with rubber floors [1]. It seems a confused design. > A ‘cost-effective’' mix of durable carpeted and rubber flooring was being used inside and tray…

It's the renovated interior of a pre-existing building, so yeah: not structural, at least no more than needed to hold up its own weight. But it really is very nice.

Re: Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

#37

Post by cozzyd »

jeffbee wrote: post #31
rootusrootus wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree, the international arrivals area is dreary and depressing. And slow. Get off the plane, go directly to a shuttle bus, drive around a while, then go in and wait in what was clearly never really intended to be an arrivals area. I gather than there are so few international arrivals that it will likely never be upgraded, but I sure would love to see the fancy face scanning electronic passport reader kiosks lik…

It's a miracle that Portland has direct international service at all. They probably had to bodge on the customs area after the place was built to pick up that route to Vancouver. Also good to keep in mind that a lot of older airports seem kludged together because they were. Fifty years ago passengers were screened at the gate. Then they invented central screening. Then they invented TSA and stopped letting non-passen…

Vancouver has preclearance no?

Re: Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

#38

Post by jeffbee »

cozzyd wrote: post #37
jeffbee wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a miracle that Portland has direct international service at all. They probably had to bodge on the customs area after the place was built to pick up that route to Vancouver. Also good to keep in mind that a lot of older airports seem kludged together because they were. Fifty years ago passengers were screened at the gate. Then they invented central screening. Then they invented TSA and stopped letting non-passen…

Vancouver has preclearance no?

I don't know what it was like in the 60's though.

Re: Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

#39

Post by tills13 »

Extropy_ wrote: post #33

Anyone know why Douglas Fir wood is considered a sustainable building material? A quick Google search says that species takes 50-100 years to mature

I believe in this case they aren't waiting for it to mature. They use what's called LVL (laminate veneer lumber) which is basically thin sheets of the wood glued together (think plywood but thicker) and then recut into dimensional sizes. The end product is both stronger and straighter than conventional lumber. And because you don't need a large cross section (almost literally any size will do), you can have a pretty short planting -> harvesting cycle.

Re: Portland airport grows with expansive mass timber roof canopy

#40

Post by hodgesrm »

lordofgibbons wrote: post #7

I wish we had more pretty architecture like this in the U.S. Our architecture is so utilitarian/corporate and built at the lowest price and just enough to meet building codes. I get why it is the way it is, but I can still wish.

The International Departures hall at SFO is pretty nice though far more conventional steel and glass. I actually like it better than PDX, partly because they have the habit of showing excellent art at SFO.[0] That's true throughout the entire airport.

[0] https://www.sfomuseum.org/

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