AIRPORT DESIGN
Falling for Niagara
The new terminal at Niagara Falls International Airport uses the latest advances in design to improve the travel experience for passengers, writes Philippe Roulston.
M
ost visitors to Niagara Falls will never forget seeing, and indeed hearing, the most powerful waterfall in North America, and it is probably fair to say that until the late 2009 opening of its new terminal, few arriving by plane would remember the airport. Whereas the old terminal at Niagara Falls International Airport did
little to celebrate the natural beauty and awesome splendour of the falls, the newly opened $31.5 million facility does and also features many innovations in airport design. Aspects of its design include the use of transparency to improve
wayfi nding; the celebration of local geology and geography through the use of forms, materials, and light; and a highly innovative split level holdroom. “The old terminal did not in any way present a warm, welcoming
gateway image,” recalls Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s director of public affairs C Douglas Hartmayer. “It was lacking essential passenger and operational amenities that
airlines were mandating if they were to come to Niagara Falls. It was time to turn the page and build a new terminal to serve the needs of 21st Century aviation.” Stantec Inc designed the new ‘showpiece’ terminal for the US gateway,
which is located just a few miles from the waterfall in the central business district of Niagara Falls in New York State.
Getting the size right “Airports are gateways to the region they serve, there’s no question, and as a result each presents a unique opportunity to celebrate what’s special about the area,” says Stanis Smith, Stantec’s principal-in-charge, who notes that bigger doesn’t always mean better. “Designing a signature entry point is not about just putting a big icon on the skyline,” adds Smith. “It is about building the right facility for the
right market, and in the case of Niagara Falls International Airport, sometimes smaller is better.” The initial design brief called for a 74,000 square feet terminal, but a
series of effi ciencies realised early in the design process allowed the facility to be downsized to 69,430 square feet. “Don’t let the size fool you,” warns Smith. “There’s a lot of
functionality squeezed into this relatively small package.” A regional bus transit centre and kerbside check-in facilities are just
some of the passenger-oriented amenities designed to ease access to a terminal that accommodates both ground loading and bridged aircraft, and domestic as well as international fl ights. Also packed into this modest frame is the ability to reconfi gure parts
of the building to ‘swing’ from international to domestic operations with the simple opening and closing of moveable walls. The dream of a gateway building hasn’t been lost in this small
package either. The building’s fl owing roof form stands tall enough to be visible from a major highway, and the airport is on an axis with an arterial roadway, creating a clear entry and exit beacon for the city.
And when passenger volumes grow beyond current capacity, as the
airport operator expects they will, an expansion scheme of the terminal and apron has been designed as part of the initial project; either end of the building can be easily expanded to meet future demand without compromising the design intent. “These examples of effi cient planning and fl exibility resulted in the
project being delivered at a cost well below comparable airport terminal projects,” says Smith. So the project came out not only smaller, but at only $31.5 million,
cheaper too. AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 81
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100