Sea-Tac Airport Opening First New Terminal in 30 Years

-Stunning Arrivals Hall, Northwest Art, & 14 Gates Greet Travelers-

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will open its first major terminal facility in 30 years on June 15. The stunning architecture adds nearly a million square feet of space for departing and arriving passengers. Sea-Tac also becomes one of the first major U.S. airports to open new facilities with integrated baggage and security systems since Sept. 11, 2001.

"Sea-Tac Airport is our region's gateway to the world, serving more than 27 million people a year," said Paige Miller, president of the Port of Seattle Commission. "This expansion was designed to make travel through the airport as convenient as possible, meeting the needs of our airline customers while incorporating the latest security requirements. It is also a spectacular public space, with outstanding public art and design. The terminal will meet the region's needs well into the future."

The expansion includes a new Concourse A with 14 airline gates, a dozen new restaurants and shops and the airport's first moving sidewalks. The arrivals hall features a 70-foot-tall exposed structural steel ceiling with natural light from a 300-foot-long window wall of glass, providing a comfortable and spacious environment for people to meet arriving passengers. Famed landscape architect Robert Murase designed a unique rock and water feature for the arrivals hall.

"The architects and the airport faced the dual challenge of meeting new and, at the time, largely undefined security requirements while creating an airport experience that would make travelers in a post 9/11 world feel safe and comfortable. The result was truly successful," said Gina Marie Lindsey, Sea-Tac's managing director.
Mid-April, Asiana, SAS, British Airlines, Aeroflot and EVA move to the recently completed international ticket counters, which also are part of the expansion. A new six-lane security checkpoint for the concourse and the South Satellite gates opened April 1.

Most of the nearly $2 million worth of spectacular new public art commissions are on view to travelers, including art glass works by renowned Northwest artists Linda Beaumont and Cappy Thompson. The new works of art include the following:

Amber glass wall with historic photos of loggers and forests by Linda Beaumont;

200 feet of patina-coppered wall by Erin Shie Palmer;

Iron, steel and fiberglass sculptural forms by Peter Shelton;

53 large panes of hand-painted, fired-glass enamel windows by Cappy Thompson;

A sound/sculpture "contraption" by Trimpin;and

Mosaic coverings for architectural columns fabricated by Stephen J. Miotto and designed by Juan Alonso, Rudy Autio, Marlene Bauer, Amy Cheng, Peter de Lory, Sam Gilliam, Joanne Hammer, Robert Yoder and Susan Zoccola.

American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Sun Country and ATA will use the 14 gates on Concourse A. American and Delta will open new VIP lounges.

The airport's first true food court will offer passengers choices including Manchu Wok, Great American Bagel Bakery, Africa Lounge, Starbucks Coffee and The Grove Natural Snacks. A hamburger restaurant is slated for a later opening date. Further down the concourse, travelers will find Tully's Coffee, Red Hook Mountain Room and La Pisa Café. Hudson News also will open five news/bookstores on the concourse.

Four new baggage carousels will expand the existing baggage claim area. The new integrated security system for outgoing baggage features 100 percent explosives detection equipment in an efficient, in-line conveyor design. This system will handle one-third of all baggage at Sea-Tac, on average about 52,000 bags on a typical summer day.
The Port of Seattle, owner and operator of Sea-Tac, will host a media and dignitary celebration on Friday, June 11, and a public grand opening celebration on Saturday, June 12.

NBBJ, Seattle, Wash., was project architect and Clark Construction, Bethesda, Md., was general contractor. The total cost of the project, including security improvements, was $587 million.