Making something old look new again is never an easy task. It can mean adding light to a dark place, openness to a closed space and modernity to what has been outdated. This was what the City of Dallas Department of Aviation wanted to see happen to its Love Field Airport, starting with the baggage claim area. The city’s objective was to make the interior “lighter, brighter and more open.” How can those kinds of qualities be added to a baggage claim built in 1958 and last renovated in 1985?
“It was a true paradigm shift in that we had to rebuild an entire baggage claim area within the confines of an existing facility (a Department of Aviation budgetary requirement) and maintain uninterrupted baggage claim service for Southwest, American and Continental airlines during this multiple-phased construction project,” said Anthony J. Wanat, AIA, a project manager with Dallas-based CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene, the architectural firm hired to take on the construction phase of the project. “Designing and building a baggage claim project on a green field site would be significantly easier and less complicated by not having to deal with the number of operational airline and public issues during construction.”
Along with the construction challenges, designers were dealing with a baggage claim-a place associated with standing around and waiting for luggage that may or may not appear.
Wanat said it was important to realize this baggage claim area would be the first impression of Dallas for many of the city’s visitors.
“The project was intended to create a sense of arrival and awe once [travelers] arrived in the baggage claim area. Bag claim service was the Department of Aviation’s driving force behind the renovation,” Wanat said. “The existing baggage claim devices were undersized, antiquated and had a continual history of mechanical breakdowns, causing the irritation that passengers had come to expect once they arrived at Dallas Love Field.”
Key to making the baggage claim update work was creating a new undulating ceiling, which ranges from 8 to 21 feet (2 to 6 m) high compared to the previous ceiling of 8 1/2 feet (3 m) high. The new ceiling goes under the ducts and then up and over the beams, which were wrapped in prefinished metal panels.
“The elevating of the roof structure to the south for the addition of clerestory windows allows light to filter and bounce off the undulating metal ceiling creating a more vibrant environment,” Wanat said.
The new ceiling features the MetalWorks Linear ceiling system from Armstrong Ceilings, Lancaster, Pa. The system used 18,600 square feet (1,728 m2) of painted white, 0.021-inch- (0.5-mm-) thick and 4-inch- (102-mm-) wide aluminum panels, including a 3/4-inch-
(19-mm-) wide black reveal that separates the ceiling planks.
“In creating an appealing architectural design for this space, a number of different ceiling designs were looked at, and it was decided to focus on [the] symbolism of waves blowing in the wind, which fit nicely with an airport environment,” Wanat said. “Metal is one of the few materials which the Department of Aviation agreed would address the long term durability and maintenance issue they were looking for.”
Wanat said from an aesthetic standpoint, the clean, reflective, crisp lines of the metal allowed the space to project an undulating motion reflected in the sky while maintaining a long-term appeal to the traveling public. “This material added to the sense of welcome and arrival to the Dallas area.”
According to Armstrong Ceilings, another objective of the project was to have good acoustics after replacing the existing carpet with terrazzo flooring. To improve the sound-absorbing properties of the metal ceiling, the planks were perforated and backed with an acoustical fleece.
Design Awards judge Bruce Lynch commended the “outstanding use of ceiling design to give a signature to the space” and “innovative use of metal to provide an unusual solution to acoustical requirements.”
Despite the challenges a retrofit situation can pose, it’s also an opportunity. Sometimes the best compliment you can give a renovation project is to say the site’s previous incarnation is hardly recognizable. In the case of the Love Field baggage claim, that appears to have been the goal.
“This project was meant to offer all the appeal of a new construction project, including natural lighting, energy efficiency and modern baggage claim devices. Hopefully previous travelers to the city will think of this as a new addition and not a renovation of the previous baggage claim area,” Wanat said. “The existing baggage claim area had a dark, overbearing, dated look with the worn out carpet and low acoustical tile ceiling. We wanted to create a state-of-the-art, new design that opened to the exterior and invited the traveling public to experience the city.”
Love Field Airport Baggage Claim, Dallas
Building owner: City of Dallas, Department of Aviation
Architect: CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene, Dallas, (757) 766-8002, www.ch2m.com
General contractor: Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Houston, www.satpon.com
Metal installer: Southwest Commercial Interiors, Carrollton, Texas, www.scirocks.com
Metal ceiling system: Armstrong Ceilings, Lancaster, Pa., www.armstrong.com
