Pittsburgh International Airport’s Terminal Modernization Program (TMP) transforms the airport into a contemporary Origin & Destination gateway that reflects the identity, values, and ambitions of the Pittsburgh region. Designed by Gensler + HDR in association with luis vidal + architects, the project reimagines what a mid-sized American airport can be: efficient, inclusive, technologically advanced, and deeply rooted in place.

Guided by the concept of NaTeCo, Nature, Technology, and Community, the design draws inspiration from Western Pennsylvania’s rolling hills, wooded landscapes, industrial heritage, and culture of innovation. This vision is expressed through the new landside terminal, where an undulating roofline evokes the region’s topography and intuitively organizes the building. Peaks accommodate major programmatic elements such as check-in and security, while valleys create moments of calm and transition. Exposed, tree-like steel columns and constellation lighting inspired by Pittsburgh’s Appalachian night skies create a warm, memorable interior defined by clarity, comfort, and a strong sense of place.

The TMP significantly simplifies the passenger journey by consolidating landside and airside operations into a single connected facility. This reduces curb-to-gate travel time by approximately 50% and international arrivals-to-curb time by 67%, while an expanded security checkpoint improves efficiency and passenger flow. Accessibility and inclusion are embedded throughout the terminal, with features such as inclusive restrooms, companion care rooms, quiet rooms, nursing facilities, adult changing tables, and Presley’s Place, a sensory-friendly suite designed for travelers with autism and sensory sensitivities.

Rare among U.S. airports, outdoor terraces on both the pre- and post-security sides introduce fresh air, landscape, and moments of respite into the travel experience. These spaces deepen the project’s connection to nature while strengthening the relationship between architecture and its environment.

The project also strengthens PIT’s civic and environmental role. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the new terminal is powered by an industry-first microgrid combining on-site solar energy and natural gas. Together, these strategies position Pittsburgh International Airport as a resilient, welcoming, and future-focused front door to the region.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is an essential infrastructure in the United States, being one of the largest connectivity nodes in the region and the 2nd busiest airport in the world in 2022.

The intervention on Terminal D of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) incorporates four new boarding gates, as well as a 150,700 square feet concourse to connect the original DFW terminal with the new one. The new gates house modern waiting areas and lounges, an international corridor for federal inspections and customs serving international passengers, and an extension to the baggage claim area.

luis vidal + architects have designed this space with large glass facades overlooking the airport runways, which provides a feeling of space and comfort. One of the key aspects of this technological design is the implementation of “View Glass” that allows the façade to be used as a communication tool to show flight details and announcements. This dynamic glass automatically adjusts to solar incidence to optimize access to natural light and views, thus improving the health and well-being of the user. This will reduce energy consumption in the new terminal by 15%.

This project has been made to meet the highest energy standards.

BWI Marshall is moving into this new and exciting phase by making major improvements to the airport terminal infrastructure enhancing and upgrading the airport facilities. One of the key elements for this is the new Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) that improves safety and enhances airport experience for both passengers and airlines.

The ATCT rises into the sky, transforming the horizon and becoming the icon of the new identity of BWI Marshall airport. This iconic infrastructure stands as a powerful image of the future challenges of BWI Marshall airport carrying ad representing its values: a technological tower that will be not only functional but cost effective, recognizable and sustainable.

That was the real challenge for our team: to design together the shape of the future for BWI. With exquisite functional planning and addressing every constraint, every requirement, the ATCT not only complements and upgrades the terminal but accompanies it in its growth as an integral part of the airport.

We are a cross-disciplinary team with an international-recognized experience in airport design and aviation projects management that understands what passengers want when they fly, what airlines demand and what stakeholders expect from the facilities. We believe in the importance of dialogue and we have a strong commitment to responsibility, understood from its economic, social and environmental point of view. And all these values and our commitment to responsibility will beat in our design proposal. From the economic point of view, the ATCT will be cost effective, providing the best quality product on time and within budget. From the social point of view, the ATCT will improve safety and will represent the new impulse of BWI Marshall airport’s identity. Because when you build identity, you also create interaction, identification and, therefore, community. Finally, the ATCT will be energy efficient and sustainable. The new iconic control tower will defy the sky to prove that other landscape, more responsible and more sustainable, is possible.

In short, BWI Marshall new ATCT will have the shape of the future, combining innovation with performance, development with sustainability, cost efficiency with quality, identity with functionality and technology with emotion.

As design architects, responsible for the vision and concept of the modernization of Terminal E at Logan International Airport, luis vidal + architects worked alongside architects of record AECOM to produce a solution that not only gives Boston a new gateway to the world, but that promises to set a lofty standard for airports everywhere. One of the most ambitious projects to date from the Massachusetts Port Authority, the transformation of Terminal E entailed sweeping renovations to the international departures hall as well as to the immigration and customs areas, adding a sky-lit ceiling that maximizes natural light while reducing energy consumption. Intuitive wayfinding, spatial clarity, and a masterful use of color transform the experience for those leaving or entering the country through Logan.

From the exterior, the new facility is distinguished by its dynamic roofline, designed to parallel the path of the sun and featuring two bands of north-facing windows, each one an eyelash-like ellipse that protects the building interior from direct sunlight. To the south, the traffic and circulation deck flows gently alongside the curved volume, affording visitors a memorable view of the downtown skyline in the distance. Cementing the connection with the city is the structure’s bold use of “Boston Red”: created for the project by Vidal at Swiss laboratory Monopol, the vivid, prismatic color changes in hue across the façade, fading from crimson to orange like an autumn sunset on the scenic harbor.

An Executive Airport or Fixed Base Operator (FBO) is a complex of airport buildings of various scales where the passenger experience is significantly different to that of the traditional, bigger airport terminals. It is neither a building, a terminal, nor a multifunctional complex. It is a brand new landscape. The envisioned project is a passenger-oriented and highly functional facility integrated within its environment, where nature is an asset. Both the terminal and the hangars can be specifically designed to make this experience memorable.

In order to achieve this differential value, the design aims at a strong “sense of place”. It also enhances human scale, balancing the enclosure of this vast area with a design that is highly legible on a passenger scale. Taking advantage of the short sequence of time from the arrival to the moment of departure enriches passenger experience.

The passenger’s intuitive wayfinding is targeted by opening views to the airside, enabling the passenger to directly access the apron. Together with close-up views of hangars and airplanes, a passenger experience comparable to the pioneering aviation era is created.

Designed as a sequence of four curved roofs evoking the nearby rolling hills, the facility accommodates three hangars, a terminal building, three office buildings, a flight school, a maintenance and garage building, a fuel farm, two parking areas, and a new apron area. Coherence and consistency are thus created by the connection of the passenger terminal to the hangars, and the visual connection of all buildings to the landside and their natural surroundings, thus blending the facility with the existing landscape.

The modernization of the existing terminal building at Cyril E. King Airport adds a second level, segregating the arrival and departure flows, and significantly improving the passenger experience, concessions offer and airport revenues.

A glazed bridge parallel to the building connects the existing one-level terminal with the new terminal through two new Vertical Circulation Cores (VCC). Moreover, four new jet bridges are connected to the second-level corridor, allowing passengers to board the planes directly along the northern side of the apron.

This space will work as a sterile corridor, keeping the departure and arrival flows separated as per the requirements of Customs & Border Protection (CBP) for the U.S. Virgin Islands territory.
A separate pavilion on the terminal’s southern side, devoted to USVI inter-island flights, will allow the refurbishment of a strategic section of the existing first level, including the construction of a new BHS system. In a later phase, this wing will be connected to the second level in order to host international departures and arrivals.

The new departure hall offers all passengers stunning views of the sea and the island’s lush landscape upon completion of the second level. Moreover, a color study has been conducted to enhance the sense of place in the new terminal building and allows the differentiation of the external vertical core-cladding panels and roof skylights inspired by the local vegetation and the Atlantic Ocean.

Pensacola is a unique city in the United States for its rich historical legacy and its solid balance between tradition and modernity. Its beautiful beaches are just one of its many attractions, which have made it a valuable destination. Its airport must respond to this dynamism, with a new terminal designed by luis vidal + architects and EXP. This project provides 5 new boarding gates and additional concessions space that elevates the passenger experience.

The heart of the project is the concourse, a new plaza of hold rooms where passengers won’t feel held anymore. An open floorplan and visual connection to the boarding gates through all the concessions area achieve this, letting the passengers enjoy them while waiting for the boarding process, and having a direct impact on the airport’s revenue. This plaza is also equipped with various types of seating, including working stations, electric plugs, and a QR connection to all businesses around.

Shaped by the sun and inspired by the dunes, the roof is designed after a careful analysis of the solar path and incidence, with volumes inspired by the local dunes, intersecting in skylights to the north that result in a more efficient building and a more comfortable stay.

Just as old and new meet in Pensacola, the existing airport facilities meet the new construction through a corridor on the eastern side. This positioning simplifies the passenger flow, reducing the number of turns and decision points, and resulting in shorter walking distance and a more intuitive wayfinding. An enhanced passenger experience that imprints the essence of Pensacola on them. A first welcome and a last goodbye to the city.

The renovation of Jones Plaza is presented as a revitalizing element for the city around it.

Within the urban fabric of the city of Houston, the intention is to create a focal point for its inhabitants, providing a nerve center for the downtown arts and theatres with a recreational space non-existent until now in the city.

The citizen will once again enjoy the current Plaza through its expansion and the elimination of parking areas. The new Plaza integrates with the surrounding buildings and removes elements that have fallen into disuse. The restaurant areas, open to the center of the square, are integrated into the space, focusing on the development of different artistic expressions.

The new Plaza project aims to become a unique focal point within the city of Houston. Becoming part of the network of public spaces that seek to reclaim the city for the pedestrian.