nice read:
Friday, January 16, 2009
The airport as emissary
St. Louis Business Journal - by Ripley Rasmus
By their very function,
airports are the most import civic structure built for a metropolitan area. They are the place for first and last impressions of a community and of the economic region supporting it. That reality is particularly consequential in a highly competitive global marketplace where true to the old saw, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression.’
Hearkening back to the era of the great train stations (and St. Louis had one in Union Station) today’s great airports function at a higher level. They should engage as an emissary for a region. That requires vision cultivated in a collaborative effort across a far-flung region by stakeholders willing to look beyond their borders to advance regional economic opportunity. In November 2008, a great new airport opened in the Midwest. Sadly, it wasn’t in St. Louis.
From a St. Louis perspective, the irony of the $1.2 billion improvements to the Indianapolis International Airport is its symbolism as a gateway — a term ingrained our region’s past that struggles to find its identity for the future. The new 1.2 million-square-foot Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal in Indianapolis defines the airport of the future as a gateway — one that combines the comfort and convenience of pre-9/11 air travel with post-9/11 security necessities.
One month after HOK was awarded the design of the new Indianapolis terminal, the world and air travel changed forever with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It added long waits at security checkpoints which bred anxiety and a “rush to the gate” mentality. Battleship gray checkpoint machinery made already sterile airport environments even more so. Many airports, including Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, devolved into dreaded destinations.
But, if cities are to thrive, with hardship must come adaptation. The Cook terminal mitigates the rush by simplifying the progression to the gate, transforming the airport as a place to conduct one’s life at unhurried pace. It creates a destination point in the form of a piazza that is the threshold of the city inviting travelers to slow down and to connect with the Indianapolis and Indiana community. In addition to plenty of comfortable seating and meeting space, this “civic plaza,” topped by a 200-foot-diameter circular skylight, features:
• Five-story windows that visually engage the Indianapolis traveler by providing vistas of the surrounding landscape, including downtown Indianapolis.
• Storefronts for 50 retailers and restaurants.
• Space to showcase Indianapolis events and culture, including the Indy 500, significant conventions, seasonal attractions, even political gatherings.
Advanced technology combines with design simplicity to smoothly shepherd travelers to the piazza and ultimately their gate. Luggage is checked curbside. Passengers and airport employees/vendors are routed to separate security checkpoints with advanced screening tools that minimize the need to open carry-on luggage. Sight lines are clear; destination points well marked. Arriving hours before your flight is replaced by a chance to slow down. It creates time to admire artwork ornamenting the terminal or themes of Indianapolis. It facilitates a culture of Indianapolis hospitality.
The new terminal is America’s first “greenfield” airport since 9/11. Discharge from fuel and deicing are controlled using bio swales populated with plants that consume hydrocarbons. Detention ponds encourage growth of microorganisms that also consume airport discharge. Water leaves cleaner than it arrived. Meanwhile, filtered glass mitigates heat from solar gain while harvesting sunlight to reduce use of artificial lighting. It has a radiant heating and cooling system in the floor to help regulate temperature only in the space occupied by passengers.
read on
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... rial4.html
