Louis Lee, Airports Authority architect for the New
Commuter Concourse at Reagan National Airport
of the airport, the New Commuter Concourse provided a
design opportunity to add something different. Instead of a
90-degree angle where the hallway turns towards the gates,
Lee’s team made the turn more appealing. Expanding walls
outward from the pinch point, they created a new zone they
call a “centrum,” where comfort and convenience meet. “The
centrum will be a relaxing environment with ample seating,
lighter-colored materials and an abundance of controlled
daylight and high ceilings — a pleasant place for passengers
to congregate before their flight,” Lee said.
View inside the Centrum of the New Commuter Concourse
Elsewhere in the concourse, more generous dimensions will
benefit passenger flow. “Wider column spacing in the New
Commuter Concourse will reduce the potential for congestion,”
Lee said. “In the design world, there is no such thing as too
much good circulation. Plentiful circulation space translates
into a high level of service — something we really strive for.”
The familiar domed ceilings prevalent in Terminal B/C will also
be right at home at the end of the new concourse, but fewer
of them will mean fewer columns are needed to support them
(and obstruct gate views). The columns will be topped with
Pelli-inspired steel tree branch beams seen elsewhere in the
airport, which is significant to Lee. While at Yale University,
he was fortunate enough to have Professor Cesar Pelli as one
of his design project critics. Fast-forwarding to today, the
charge to continue Pelli’s original vision for Reagan National
is in Lee’s control. “I think he would be pleased to see we are
continuing his architectural language in the New Commuter
Concourse,” said Lee. “Ten years from now, passengers
looking from outside will probably think Terminal B/C and the
New Commuter Concourse were built together from the same
drawings.” Few people other than Louis Lee will know better.
View of the 10-gate boarding area at the end of the
New Commuter Concourse
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