How Biophilic Design Is Transforming the Airport Experience

Although Portland International Airport’s (PDX) new terminal is defined by its vast mass timber roof, ZGF’s design also focused on human-scale experience, with an emphasis on biophilia. 

“The Port [of Portland] was very clear that a key outcome was to reduce passenger stress,” recalls Bill Browning of Terrapin Bright Green, the project’s sustainability consultant. 

The design team created several user profiles to map high-stress areas and target specific moments of intervention. Just after the ticketing area, for example, passengers encounter a grove of mature deciduous trees (under the largest among dozens of skylights) before moving on to restaurants and shops or ensuing security checkpoints. Not only do the trees deliver a dose of nature, but their canopy provides a protective sense of enclosure. 

The roof itself is part of the biophilia strategy, from the warm-feeling wood to its curvy biomorphic shape. The skylights’ wood-lattice edges create dappled light patterns like a tree canopy. “That’s a type of fractal pattern that we know lowers stress,” Browning explains, citing studies by University of Oregon physicist Richard Taylor that influenced the design. 

A nearby mezzanine, where a large pub is located, provides a perch supporting two aspects of biophilic design: prospect, or an ability to survey your environment; and refuge, a place of protection. 

The lower-ceilinged security checkpoints, above which are Port of Portland conference rooms, were affixed with large video walls featuring soothing artist depictions of nature. 

The terminal’s displacement ventilation can be fine-tuned in specific spaces, like a deliberately lower-temperature security area, where people tend to sweat the most. 

Before the terminal opened, Sandoval took his 15-year-old son, whose responses were ideal. “He said, ‘One, wow: It smells like wood.’ Second, he said, ‘The light is really comfortable,’” Sandoval remembers. “Third, he goes, ‘It’s so peaceful.’ And fourth, he said, ‘I want to come here early before our next flight.’ That to me was the ultimate win.” 

Would you like to comment on this article? Send your thoughts to: [email protected]

• Research

• Biophilia
• Brian Libby
• Embodied Carbon
• Healthy Materials