#FlyWashington Magazine Winter 2017 | Page 27

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 WINTER 2017/18 25 FLYWASHINGTON.COM