Portland International Airport (PDX) has long been a source of pride for the city, consistently ranked as one of the best airports in North America for customer satisfaction. 

Now, with the unveiling of its newly renovated main terminal, PDX has reached new heights by embracing innovative design and sustainable building practices with a massive, undulating, 9-acre roof made from ultra-durable mass timber. This ambitious project, a decade in the making, involved a $2 billion transformation by a great team. The result is a stunning architectural achievement that pays homage to the Pacific Northwest’s rich timber heritage while setting a new standard for sustainable airport design.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the new PDX terminal is its commitment to utilizing locally sourced mass timber.

Instead of relying on traditional steel and concrete, the project team boldly decided to pursue the terminal’s iconic roof using 3.5 million board feet of wood in total, sourced from forests within a 300-mile radius of the airport. This “forest to frame” approach, as described by Metropolis magazine, is akin to the farm-to-table movement in the culinary world. It prioritizes local sourcing, reduces transportation costs and emissions, and supports the regional timber industry.

This commitment to sustainability extends beyond just the material selection. The project team, driven by a desire to “source all this wood in a way that is better for our forests and communities,” prioritized sourcing wood from landowners working to restore forest ecosystems, including small landowners, community forests, and sovereign tribal lands. That goal resulted in 100% of the 3×6” lattice timbers and 93% of the glulam being sourced from FSC-certified forests and landowners meeting the highest standards of sustainable forestry practices.

This allowed the team to implement a pioneering system to track as much of the wood as possible back to the timber’s origin. 1 million of the 2.6 million board feet comprising the glulam and lattice structures, can be directly traced back to its forest of origin, including specific details about the landowners and their sustainable practices.

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