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Photograph: With only 470 acres for the entire airport, the new terminal needed a compact plan (opposite top). The south facade (this page) recalls Saarinen's design for Dulles Airport.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GLEN CORMIER
Program
Constrained by a tight 470-acre site and growing passenger traffic, the San Diego International Airport needed a second terminal that would provide nine new arrival gates and be expandable when adjacent land becomes available in the future. The San Diego Unified Port District, which operates the airport, also wanted the new terminal to act as a gateway to the city and recall San Diego's history as an aircraft-manufacturing hub. Other aspects of the job would include reworking roadways to reduce congestion and building a new parking structure and ground transportation plaza.
Design solution
The new 320,000-square-foot, L-shaped terminal locates services and arrival gates to one side of a large linear concourse, which in turn is anchored by two large rotundas. The rotundas work as transition nodes and decision-making points. The landside rotunda, the terminal's main entrance, connects to a large new landscaped parking and transportation plaza via a circular pavilion and a sky bridge. The entry rotunda provides easy orientation and access to ticketing and the main concourse. The second--airside--rotunda contains concessions and other amenities. While many airports feature dramatic departure halls, arrivals halls are often...