Long Beach’s charming airport finally got the design upgrade it deserves
Long Beach Airport had a trailer problem.
Long Beach’s quaint municipal airport originally opened in 1924 when airplanes flew using propellers—and the art deco terminal hadn’t undergone a full-scale renovation since. Instead, it adapted to the increased spatial demands of late 20th and early 21st century air travel, like increased security screening and modern baggage handling, in a rather temporary way: trailers.
“It was known as the trailer park airport,” says Michael Bohn, a partner at Studio One Eleven, a Long Beach-based architecture and design firm. “It just became a hodgepodge. You went down these crazy aisles, and through different trailers. They had vending machines for snacks. It was probably one of the worst experiences you could have.”
In 2012, the city decided to do something about that. It launched a multiphase, $185 million renovation project. Two new concourse buildings were added, making it more feasible for the airport to handle passengers for major airlines like Southwest and JetBlue. Concessions were expanded. A new welcome gateway was added.
It was all intended to reset the airport in the public’s mind, moving it away from its jumbled past to becoming a more seamless gateway for traveler opting against the nearby behemoth of Los Angeles International Airport. But the trailers were still making up key parts of the airport’s operations.
“Trailer park airport” no more
Studio One Eleven stepped in to rethink the space around the main terminal building and to do away with the trailers once and for all. The firm led the historic renovation and seismic upgrading of the terminal building, designed in a streamlined style and adorned with WPA-era artwork. The project also included a large-scale enhancement of the terminal’s public realm, much of which had been taken over by trailers and other ad hoc building annexes and airport infrastructure.
“We said, ‘what if you could pull this stuff away and create a negative space instead of all this clutter?’” says Kirk Keller, principal landscape architect at Studio One Eleven. The designers moved IT equipment into the basement, and relocated the baggage handling infrastructure behind the scenes. “It was really trying to carve away space for people.”
That opened up new space for a more open terminal experience and, rarely for an airport, outdoor terrace space once passengers make their way through security. “We look at the space between buildings as being just as important as the architecture itself,” says Bohn.
Their design interventions have gotten rid of the trailer park problem, and helped turn Long Beach Airport into one of the most beloved airports in the United States. A recent Washington Post ranking of the top 50 airports placed it as the second best in the nation, behind only Portland’s elegant new mass timber terminal.
New outdoor space
Outdoor space became a key focus for the project. Once holding the overflow services and equipment that created the airport’s trailer problem, space that exists between the historic terminal and the two new concourse buildings became ripe for reinvention. “It was almost just interstitial space between these two concourses. It served no purpose,” says Bohn. Studio One Eleven reframed the space as a central plaza.
Set between the cruise ship-esque facade of the historic terminal and the modern facilities leading into the secure section of the airport, the plaza has become a unique public space in the city, where people can greet arriving friends and family, access one of the airport’s local concessionaires, or simply catch views of airplanes taking off and landing.
To keep it as open as possible, the designers used the region’s iconic palm trees as both landscaping and lighting infrastructure, while also webbing the space with an overhead catenary wire system to hold additional exterior lights. Keller says they’re meant to evoke the flight paths of airplanes and seabirds from Long Beach’s coastal environment.
Long Beach-based Studio One Eleven was tuned into these local influences. The designers also knew that one of the airport’s biggest strengths was its relatively modest size. “We were just respecting that Long Beach doesn’t want to try to compete with LAX or Portland, or San Francisco,” says Bohn. “It’s got its charm, and we just wanted to build on that.”
