ZGF + PDX—A Partnership That Spans Six Decades and Multiple Projects
Port of Portland, Portland International Airport
The unique history of our enduring relationship with PDX.
ZGF Architects began its decades long association with Portland International Airport (PDX) in 1966 when the Port of Portland commissioned the firm to develop a master plan to double the size of its original 1958 terminal. It’s rare for an architecture firm and an airport to settle into a relationship that spans decades and results in multiple projects. Yet today, nearly six decades later, ZGF remains the Port’s primary architectural partner, having completed numerous remodels and major expansions at PDX.
ZGF’s current endeavor is the airport’s most aggressive expansion to date, doubling its size again, and reimagining the terminal core designed to feel like a walk in the forest, with a 380,000-square-foot wood roof that celebrates the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to master planning, ZGF worked on concourse extensions, concessions upgrades, and various other airport improvements including one of the most important—elevating the human experience.
Location
Portland, Oregon
Project Component
Architecture services
Interior design and space planning
Portland International Airport pre-expansion in the 1950s.
After six decades of projects which expanded and updated Portland International Airport (PDX), the new main terminal project unifies the building under one seismically resilient, undulating, mass timber roof.
Going back to the 1970s, PDX was the first airport to incorporate wood, plants, and natural daylight, and now with the expansion of the main terminal opening in May 2024, PDX will be one of the first airports in the world to be made almost entirely out of wood.
Gene Sandoval | Design Partner | ZGF
SIX DECADES OF EXPANDING AND EVOLVING PDX
After developing PDX's master plan in 1965, ZGF was again tapped to work on a significant terminal master plan and expansion for the airport in the 1980s. When passenger volumes at PDX doubled in the 1990s, it became one of the fastest growing airports in the United States, leading to a massive terminal expansion project that would span the decade and lead to two additional major expansions of the terminal in the early 2000s.
Our relationship with PDX continued to grow with the construction of a headquarters for the Port of Portland which unified their dispersed workforce and expanded the airport's onsite parking. In 2020, ZGF completed Concourse B for Alaska Airlines, a new concourse which replaced an older, aging one.
In 2024, ZGF will bring PDX into the future, with the main terminal expansion that doubles the airport's footprint. The new wood structure features an undulating mass timber roof and biophilic elements throughout—sustainable and resilient, the new terminal more than lives up to PDX’s reputation as “America’s Best Airport”.
Port of Portland, PDX Airport Main Terminal Expansion
Port of Portland, PDX Next Concourse B
Port of Portland, Headquarters and Long-Term Parking Garage
Port of Portland, Portland International Airport
