Newsletter | Jul/Aug 2016


SFO Tour

by Carole Mancke
On Tuesday, July 12, about twenty-two OWA+DP members and other guests joined the women’s group at the Design + Construction division of San Francisco International Airport for a program about their vision for the airport and how they make it happen through design standards and collaborative team work. The program started with a tour of Boarding Area E in Terminal 3. This project, which opened about 18 months ago and was designed by Gensler, involved widening and extending an existing pier to create a much improved guest experience.

We were split into small groups, each led by a member of the SFO Design and Construction team, through the employee security procedure into the secure zone of the pier. It was interesting to spend relaxed time in an airport departures area, and to be able to really look at the design, the interesting concessions (all local businesses), the artwork (the airport has a substantial collection), the materials, furniture and quality of light. Even the restroom was interesting – they are experimenting with creating areas to relax inside the restrooms!

After the tour, we took the Air Train to the ‘Big Room’, a large structure built inside an existing hangar (a box in a box) where a 150-person team of contractors, architects and engineers are working together on two new projects for Terminal 1.

The Big Room is fitted out with working spaces, a kitchen/dining area, break out spaces, toilets, showers and around eleven meeting rooms. The fit out is highly eclectic, incorporating many kinds of furniture, lighting and workstations as well as places to throw darts and play ping pong, It was initially designed to be an entirely open work space, but sometime during the process, the building contractors requested enclosed cubicles. So the designers from eight different architecture and interiors firms happily work together in the open space without partitions, and the building contractor employees all sit in individual cubicles around the edges! The engineering team work in the space one day a week, hot-desking amidst the designers.

We were welcomed by Judi Mosqueda, SFO Terminal Planning and Design Manager, and then heard three excellent presentations. The first was on the SFO REACH program by its director Kris Opbroek. REACH stands for Revenue Enhancement and Customer Hospitality and is an initiative through which SFO seeks to ‘to enhance the customer experience, drive revenue generation and bring a cohesive character to the entire airport campus.’ The second presentation, by Josephine Pofsky Director of Infrastructure Information Management, was a remarkable tour de force on the airport’s existing GIS and BIM systems and future plans. The final presentation by Project Manager Farrah Young was an explanation of the Terminal 1 projects currently in design development in the Big Room. The presentations were all of exceptional quality, communicating each presenter’s passion for their work. Together these presentations were a powerful and empowering display of skill and professionalism by a truly remarkable group of women.

Refreshments included soft drinks and make-your-own tacos provided by OWA+DP with the generous support of Woods Bagot (part of the Terminal 1 team). The event was organized by Kara Bowman, Assistant Architect, Design + Construction SFO.

You can read more about SFO Design + Construction at http://www.sfoconstruction.com/, http://www.flysfo.com/community-environment/environmental-sustainability-reports.


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