SFO Big Room

Project Details

Project Description

A Joint Venture Project: Gensler and Kuth Ranieri Architects, with Hamilton Aitken

The SFO Big Room is a 200-seat office that will house the design-build teams awarded the Terminal 1 Renovation contract for the five-year duration of the project. A one-story structure contained within an existing airplane hangar, the Big Room was designed to encourage exchange and collaboration between disciplines and offer an engaging environment in which to create a cutting-edge airport terminal.

The interiors are designed to evoke the high-quality hospitality experience the client values for terminal design, yet with a budget-conscious materials palette. Clean white walls and ceiling planes, punctuated with screening elements of plywood on exposed stud framing and brightly colored structural columns, create a dynamic suggestion of implied space. Interactive wall graphics, expressive millwork, and reclaimed designer furniture are just some of the elements that enliven the office at minimal cost.

A range of spaces supports the full gamut of design activities, meeting sizes, and degrees of privacy. The central community space and kitchen, with its quirky-shaped dining table, is surrounded by pin-up space, serving as both informal gathering area and an open forum for charrettes and client presentations. Meeting rooms range from small “huddle” pods for impromptu gatherings to 15- to 20-person meeting rooms and two large conference rooms. Amenities such as phone booths, a “Zen room,” and a wellness room offer occupants options for privacy and quiet.

Photography by Jason O'Rear