Orlando, Florida, USA
Designed by Fentress Architects with HNTB, and Baker Barrios Architects, Orlando’s International Airport new Terminal C represents the largest expansion in the airport’s history and sets a new standard in U.S. air travel with multiple industry firsts.
Terminal C’s design principle, Beyond The Orlando Experience, used advanced technology, sustainability, and cultural sensitivity, together with the airport’s trademark use of sky, foliage, and water features in facility design to create a passenger-first experience like no other.
The project has been recently awarded a 2023 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The building’s linear configuration and use of natural light make wayfinding intuitive.
Passengers entering the terminal follow the Boulevard, a towering skylight atrium, directly to ticketing and security.
Eighty percent of the TSA screening lanes are automated, a U.S. first, and can handle 100 more passengers per hour than traditional lanes, providing some of the best throughputs in the industry.
For international passengers, there is no fumbling for smartphones or paper boarding passes and little queuing as the industry’s first 100 percent facial recognition e-gates scan up to five passengers at a time.
The industry’s unique Bags First design streamlines the U.S. Customs and Border Protection process, and a 100 percent trackable baggage handling system, another first, allows passengers to retrieve all baggage even strollers and golf clubs at one carousel.
Arriving passengers know they are in Florida as they step into the sun-bathed arrival hall on the terminal’s top level, which welcomes travelers with spectacular Central Florida vistas.
The innovative baggage system’s lean, space-saving vertical circulation made the unique top-level arrival experience possible.
The conveniences continue as passengers leave the terminal.
Landside’s Terminal C is the first to fully integrate multimodal ground-air-rail transportation, including high-speed rail.
Airside, the terminal’s new 100 percent total virtual ramp control, another first, ensures safe, timely arrivals and departures.
Terminal C integrates the airport’s design elements of sky, water, and foliage with expansive glass skylights, massive glass curtain walls, artist interpretations of natural springs, and lifelike lanky palm and cypress trees sustainably constructed from preserved live trees.
Of all Terminal C’s passenger-focused features, the loudest “Wow!” is generated by the architecturally integrated, immersive, and interactive multimedia installations ranging from 9K to 33K that display original content showcasing quintessential and transformative aspects of Central Florida.
All 15 swing gates can handle international and domestic flights and accommodate up to 20 aircraft, including narrow-body, jumbo and super-jumbo jets.
With Terminal C, MCO can serve an additional 10-12 million passengers annually.
At full buildout, the South Terminal can house up to 120 gates and serve 60 million passengers annually.
The terminal’s economic impact is estimated to exceed $5.6 billion.
Terminal C is designed for certification as one of the first LEED airport campuses.
Project: Orlando International Airport Terminal C
Architects: Fentress Architects
Architects of Record: HNTB Corporation
Associate Architects: Baker Barrio Architects, MLM-Martin Architects, and Rhodes + Brito
Interior Designers: Ramski & Company
Landscape Architects: Baker Barrios Architects
General Contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Client: Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA)
Photographers: Michael Robinson
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
