Tampa International Airport - Airside E
"Controlled freedom" was the conceptual basis of the design as the extremely "fixed" nature of site restrictions, Airport Authority regulations, tenant programmatic spatial requirements and building code compliance dictated the architecture to 'BE' the limits of the site in plan. The elevation/sectional character was narrated by the LOS (line of site) cast from the control tower to the centerline of the jetway dictating the shape of the rakish profile.
Programmatically, the first floor houses airline operation offices, the baggage system matrix and tug drive. The second floor is public space dedicated to airline passenger service, duty-free retail, a table-service restaurant and a lounge bar. The third floor is Delta's first and business class Crown Lounge.
Airside E's unique challenge was the client's request for there to be no visible structural columns within the concourse or in the AGT arrivals lobby. The building's height restriction and the programmatic need to have three floors within the envelope created very wide and very low spatial conditions that further complicated the idea of feeling spatially open or, essentially, "free".
The cost-effective design solution in the concourse circulation resulted in the ceiling to be the exposed metal roof deck and tapering the I-beams transversly to the circulation path. In the lofty arrivals lobby, an elegant exposed kingpin truss system is connected to an exposed straightback truss specialty glazing system. Together, these systems compliment each other in creating an airy atmosphere of natural night and openess.