How Portland's PDX Airport became the Country's Best by Going Local

The Port of Portland created a showstopping destination in the Portland International Airport by embracing all things Pacific Northwest.

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I wrote this for Fast Company in March 2025.

The retro carpet at PDX's stunning new terminal [Photo: Dror Baldinger]

Portlanders have long been proud of their quirky airport with its retro teal-and-purple carpeting and commitment to street pricing. But with the August opening of the $2.15 billion new main terminal, the Port of Portland has turned Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) into a showstopping destination for all visitors. Designed by ZGF Architects, the building embraces the region’s natural environment with a mass timber roof and 72 living trees throughout the concourse. All of its shops and concessions are area brands, and 90% of the labor was done by local union workers. A soon-to-be-installed groundwater geothermal heat pump, engineered by Portland-based firm PAE Engineers, will cut the heating system’s use of fossil fuels by 90%. Port of Portland executive director Curtis Robinhold says the Port began working on the project seven years ago with a mandate to “impact the world that we live in—and our own community.” Here’s how they did it.

Natural architecture

All the wood used to build the mass timber roof, the concession pavilion walls, and the floors was sourced from forests within 300 miles of PDX. The Port also wanted the wood to come from trees culled from ecologically managed forests. “Most of the voices in the room said, ‘That can’t be done, that’s not the way the industry works,’” says Ryan Temple, founder of Sustainable Northwest Wood. He was one of a handful of people who said that not only was it possible, it might help redefine the timber industry—by making timber more traceable. Trees for the terminal were sourced, for example, from the Skokomish tribe, Yakama Forest Products, and small family-run forests like Elkton Reserve (for the concession pavilion walls) and Zena Forest Products (the white oak flooring). Meanwhile, the roof’s 49 skylights and a 36-foot-high window wall let in natural light that—even on cloudy days—mean that the main terminal will be lit by 50% fewer light bulbs than Oregon electrical code allows.

Local stores and restaurants

The shops and concessions in the new terminal are all Oregon-based companies, including Orox (high-end handcrafted leather goods), PiPH (a stationery store), and Freeland Spirits (small-batch gin and bourbon). Being at the airport dramatically increases visibility and revenue for small businesses. For Victoria Venturi, founder-owner of PiPH, a presence at PDX is a game-changer. “The number of greeting cards we’ve sold has been staggering,” she says.

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Small business contracts

Both general contractors—Hoffman and Skanska, which joined together for this project—are union firms. And many of the smaller companies employed to do carpentry, electrical work, and ironwork were also union and employed local workers. “We wanted to make sure that small businesses—especially woman- and minority- and veteran-owned that don’t usually get contracts of this scale—could get in,” says Port of Portland’s Robinhold.

Oregon art

There have never been televisions at PDX, and omitting them from the new terminal was intentional. Instead, there are 128-foot-long LED screens on either side of the main hall that showcase digital storytelling about Oregon. Ivan McClellan’s arresting video shows scenes of Oregon’s Black cowboys. (McClellan also organizes Oregon’s 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo). Brad Johnson’s piece Terra Cascadia is a dazzling series of 3D “point clouds”—then animated by virtual cinematography software—of waterfalls, mountains, and other geological features of the Columbia Gorge. Finally, environmental artist and UCLA professor Rebeca Méndez’s Walking the Earth: Oregon features footage of nine hikes she took through Oregon landscapes.

Ground-source heat

PAE is installing one of the largest ground-source heat pumps in the state of Oregon at PDX. The system uses electricity to pump 55-degree water from the Troutdale sandstone aquifer 500 feet below-ground through heat exchangers then sends the cooler water to the aquifer for storage. This will cut the airport’s use of fossil fuels by more than 90%.

An iconic carpet

PDX’s iconic carpet is back, both on the mezzanine section and—later this year—near the arrivals and exit areas (which are still under construction). “As executive director of the Port of Portland, I’ve never really understood the carpet thing,” admits Robinhold. “But I think it’s that Portland feeling of: This might be a little bit weird, but it is my home.”