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HOK Lands LEED Certification for Logan Terminal

Terminal A features a main terminal and a satellite concourse, connected by an underground pedestrian walkway.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 7/17/2006 12:00:00 AM

Jetsetters traveling through the new Delta Air Lines’ Terminal A at Boston’s Logan International Airport will experience the world’s first airport facility to achieve LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In order to achieve the honor, architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK), in collaboration with Delta and Logan's developer and manager Massport, was challenged to create a design that is both sustainable and meets new government-mandated security requirements initiated after September 11, 2001.

The first major U.S. terminal built since 9/11, Terminal A features a 362,000-square-foot main terminal and a 284,000-square-foot satellite concourse, connected by an underground pedestrian moving walkway. Following Massport’s 2001 guidelines for sustainable airport construction, the design team implemented green elements including water-efficient plumbing and irrigation; extensive daylighting and high-insulation glass; energy-efficient electric lighting; construction waste recycling; and the use of recycled, local materials.

The firm's environmental consciousness also extended to the construction process. Ten percent of all materials on the job came from recycled sources and 75 percent of construction waste will be reused or recycled, preventing waste from entering local landfills.

Innovative technologies include a roofing membrane and paving, designed to reflect heat from the building, and special storm water filtration devices. The latter removes suspended solids and total phosphorous, which cause storm water runoff issues.

“Our design objective was to exceed passenger expectations while creating a functionally efficient, state-of-the-art operating facility for Delta and all other carriers operating at Terminal A," says Ali R. Moghaddasi, design director of HOK's aviation practice.

C&R Rizvi served as associate architect on the project.