“Our design concept focuses on two main components: a superior passenger experience and an exterior architectural expression that conveys a civic presence from the Grand Central Parkway,” states Carl Galioto, HOK’s president and New York office managing principal.
“The building is a metaphor for New York, a city of islands and bridges, and the terminal is connected to the city with views of the skyline from the passenger bridges. Our ambition was to help transform LaGuardia into an airport with a distinct civic identity worthy of this metropolis.”
Under a 35-year lease agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP) will design, build, manage and maintain Terminal B. LGP includes Vantage Airport Group, Skanska, Meridiam, and JLC Infrastructure for development and equity investment.
Vantage Airport Group leads the redevelopment program and management of Terminal B, with Skanska-Walsh as the design-build joint venture and HOK and WSP USA providing architecture and engineering.The project envisioned a new central entry portal to the airport, unifying previously unconnected terminals, and serving approximately 50 percent of the passenger volume.LaGuardia airport first opened in 1939 is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia, serving as a hub for American Airlines and Delta Airlines.
The former $36 million Terminal B, designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, was dedicated on April 17, 1964 to accommodate eight million passengers a year, and at a time when security needs and passenger amenities were not what they are today.Construction on the new Terminal B started in July 2016 to use bridges from the Arrivals and Departures Hall (also known as a headhouse) over to bright, open concourses that give passengers a bird’s-eye view of the airside operation and the concourses.
The project created a new central entry portal to the airport, unified previously unconnected terminals, and serve approximately 50 percent of the passenger volume with seven new gates within 250,000 sf of the airport’s Terminal B Western Concourse.The new terminal is designed to seamlessly integrate with future amenities, such as premier retail and dining space, a hotel, a conference and business center, and other modern features that will generate revenue for the Port Authority.
Amenities will include transportation features such as an air train, ferry service, and a people mover to help passengers traverse the entire airport.Pedestrian Bridge B, which opened to travelers last year, is one of two 450-foot-long bridge structures that span aircraft taxi lanes linking LaGuardia Airport’s new 850,000-sq.-ft.
The first concourse – Concourse B – opened to the public in December 2018.The headhouse opened to the public in June 2020.In August 2020, the first seven new gates in the new Western Concourse were opened.With a look as sleek as the aircraft passing beneath it, Pedestrian Bridge B opened as a novel solution to a longstanding taxiway challenge.
Its form embodies elegance within demanding constraints, giving travelers the feeling that they’re part of the airport’s operations as they experience an inspirational new passage into New York.In addition to serving as an apt metaphor for New York City, this ‘island-and-bridges’ concept completely reorganized the original vision for how the new Terminal B should work.
The second bridge will open in 2021.When the LaGuardia Central Terminal B project is completed in 2022, the new world-class facility will have the capacity to handle 17 million passengers a year, with modern baggage, check-in, and a huge retail hall that includes dining space, a hotel, a conference, and business center, and other features to accommodate growing passenger volumes.
