Portland International Airport’s nine-acre timber roof is finally on full display, with crews this week removing the temporary bypass wall that had until now concealed the airport’s “Phase 2 works” as the US $2.15 billion terminal development enters its final runway.
And whilst the core of the terminal opened to passengers in 2024, the past 18 months have been dedicated to demolishing and rebuilding the north and south nodes — a task carried out while the airport remained fully operational. And Wood Central understands that the final configuration now links ticketing, security and circulation spaces into a single, seismically isolated volume, eliminating the bottlenecks that characterised the interim construction period.
“The last 30% of Portland Airport’s main terminal project, on both the north and south of wing of the terminal, will wrap up by June, adding new restaurants, shops, bathrooms, art, and improved passenger flow,” according to Alamy McCarty, a reporter for KGW8 news who toured the new section. “As we open up the last 30% of the project, you’ll see the continuation of a walk in the forest.”
Behind the Douglas fir interior lies one of the most advanced seismic designs for any airport anywhere in the world, with the structure engineered to remain fully operational both during and after a magnitude‑9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, whilst high‑tech base isolation bearings are installed beneath the columns to allow the roof and floor plates to move independently from the ground. And for crews, this meant threading new structural systems through an active terminal — a challenge far removed from a greenfield build.
And the logistical demands are immense. Crews had to demolish the old ticket lobbies and baggage claim areas just metres from live passenger operations, while simultaneously erecting the steel that “stitched” the Phase 1 roof to the new Phase 2 sections. The distinctive Y‑columns now run uninterrupted from end to end, supporting the undulating mass timber diaphragm that has become the project’s signature.
Attention is now shifted to interior fit‑out. Electricians are completing the LED lighting integration within the timber coffers, while finish trades install terrazzo flooring designed to mimic the dappled light of a forest floor. The final retail nodes are also taking shape, with the Port of Portland prioritising local operators over generic airport franchises.
The supply chain behind the project remains one of its defining achievements. More than 2.5 million board feet of glulam beams and lattice were sourced from within a 300‑mile radius, including tribal lands and small family‑owned forests. Timberlab and Zip‑O‑Laminators led the mass timber fabrication, while W&W | AFCO Steel delivered the structural steel package.
- To learn more about the airport, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive interview with Jared Revy, the Director of Manufacturing for Timberlab, one of North America’s largest mass timber manufacturers and fabricators of the massive build.
