C Concourse Expansion

Status: In Progress

The C Concourse Expansion aims to elevate SEA, literally, by adding four additional floors above the existing building and raise the bar on the airport experience and sustainability. 

Project Overview

The project spans the C and D Concourses with additional dining and retail, sought-after amenities such as an Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Room and Nursing Suite, and an all-new, more than 20,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines Lounge. The heart of the space – Tree at C – will be an iconic destination that invites travelers to linger with seating, airfield views, music and art, or head upstairs for more elbowroom and dining and retail options. The expansion also encompasses office space for airport businesses, airlines, and the TSA.

The C Concourse Expansion rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness. This project will increase the existing 81,000-square-foot building into a beautiful 226,530-square-foot facility with a wish-list of amenities.

The building's design is inspired by the natural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and the energy and vibrancy of Seattle. The Tree at C creates a central gathering space designed to reflect regional public and farmers markets. The main floor will boast the Marketplace at C, a main area for passengers to find everything they need. Dining and retail will frame this tiered, open amphitheater with a stage for live music. Next, travelers are drawn to the upper level with restaurants above as well as views and the ability to look out over the entire facade. One of the most unique aspects of the C Concourse Expansion is its height and unobstructed views of the airfield and Olympic Mountains via a lookout deck, Lookout at C, encased in glass that will be available to all passengers.

Climate and Community Forward

The Port of Seattle is working to be the greenest and most energy efficient port in North America where the health of the environment and the well-being of travelers is paramount. C Concourse Expansion is the first project of its kind to follow the Port’s Sustainable Evaluation Framework, a process to transparently evaluate alternative, sustainable approaches to build capital projects where environmental and societal impacts inform project design, alongside cost and schedule.

The sustainable features of this project will set the precedent for future capital projects at the Port, including:

• Fossil fuel free systems (heating, tenant hot water and cooking equipment)
• Rooftop photovoltaics, an energy efficient rooftop solar array
• Dishwashing capabilities to reduce solid waste and storage location for donated food
• Low-flow water fixtures that help conserve potable water
• Electrochromic glazing for windows
• Biophilic design strategies which create a comfortable environment and a symbiotic relationship between design expression and sustainability
• SEA will pursue a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification with the C Concourse Expansion project.

The Port is also committed to advancing equity and addressing contracting disparities by increasing the utilization of women- and minority-owned business enterprise (WMBE) and other disadvantaged firms. The project is targeting 15 percent WMBE utilization for its design work with The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot as well as 20 percent for construction management with Jacobs.

Art Program

This project has selected several artists for a variety of artwork to adorn this new building, and also created a first-of-its-kind artist-in-residence program between the Port of Seattle and Pilchuck Glass School and Tacoma's, Museum of Glass. Two of the selected artists, Crystal Worl and Fumi Amano, were chosen to take part in a two-week artist-in-residence program summer of 2023 at Pilchuck Glass School. This time served as a creative incubator period to experiment with the glass medium to help them develop a vision for their final piece. 

See how Crystal used her time at the Pilchuck residency in this artist spotlight video, and read about it in the blog; Weaving Cultural and Travel Ties Into Airport Art Installation. Also watch this video on Fumi's Pilchuck residency and learn more about her process in the blog; Artist's SEA Piece Inspired by Transitions of Travel. 

In 2024/2025, both artists will participate in the second part of the artist-in-residence program with a one week residency at Tacoma's Museum of Glass to help them begin to refine the creation of their final art pieces. 

Selected artists for the CCE:
  * Fumi Amano, Lookout at C sculpture
  * Crystal Worl, restroom art wall
  * Jaq Chartier, Tree at C grand stairs table art
  * Beccy Feather, Tree at C grand stairs table art
  * June Sekiguchi, Tree at C grand stairs table art
  * Hussain Almossawi, video wall
  * Rebecca Bird, video wall
  * Marco Brambilla, video wall
  * Dan Mirer, video wall
  * Anna Mlosowsky, video wall

Timeline

Early work began summer 2022 with major construction kicking off in 2024. Substantial completion for construction is projected for Q2 2026, ahead of the 2026 World Cup Tournament.

Estimated Project Costs

Total estimated project cost is $399 million.

Milestones

October 2024: 13 new dining and retail concepts have been chosen for the new facility in the C Concourse, read more about them in this Press Release. 

March 2024: Ground Bowl-Breaking, since the project is not breaking ground and adding four floors, we couldn't do a groundbreaking... so instead we did a Ground Bowl-Breaking. Check out this highlight video. 

March 2024: Demising wall erection update, watch this follow-up video about the wall's erection and the graphics placement. 

January 2024: Demising wall, in preparation for major construction kicking off, a demising wall is being erected blocking off part of the C Concourse. Read about how to navigate the C Concourse once the wall goes up and watch a video about what those impacts will look like. 

September 2023: Check out this behind-the-scenes video of the performance mock up for the folding facade window wall. 

September 2023: Watch this virtual tour and take a journey through the vision of the brand new C Concourse. 

April 2023: Watch this new fly-around exterior rendering video of the new C Concourse building. 

Contractors on this project:

• GC/CM: Turner Construction
• Design: The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot (Paxson Fay for PR)