A View on the Future of Aviation: A Q&A with Bryan Smith

Airports are the gateway to one of the fastest modes of commercial transport, helping to carry people and packages to almost anywhere in the world and fueling trillions of dollars in economic activity annually. 

Airport terminal design needs to enhance both passenger experience and operational efficiency. In this Q&A, we connect with Bryan Smith, our aviation architecture principal, to talk about the trends, priorities and complex challenges of airport terminal design.

Tell us a bit about what a day in the life is like as a Jacobs Aviation Design Principal, and what we offer our clients in this area. 

The airport terminal design industry is dynamic with ever evolving technologies, complex airline and airport operations, and dozens of various stakeholders that must work in harmony for an airport to run efficiently. For a terminal design to be successful the passenger experience must be at the core of every design decision. Whether that is providing more natural light into a concourse to improve passenger comfort, selecting innovative baggage systems, designing a more efficient gate lounge, or improving intuitive wayfinding systems, the passenger experience is greatly affected by all these factors. As a terminal design architect and the global leader of our community of practice for aviation buildings at Jacobs, I must stay current with latest aviation trends and innovations to provide our clients with a terminal that is beautiful, but also operationally efficient. 

One of the main reasons I chose to focus on aviation architecture for the last two decades is that there is never a typical day in aviation architecture design. On any given day, I might be interacting with a client on a design charrette, working with the airlines on more efficient passenger processing technologies, designing a layout for concessions that optimizes revenue to the airport, or working with our Operational Readiness, Activation and Transition (ORAT) team to improve the design for more efficient airport operations.

What are some of the biggest challenges when designing airports?

One of the biggest challenges is to provide an airport design that allows for the most future flexibility in a terminal where there are rapid changes to the technology landscape, airline standards, passenger behaviors, security systems, aircraft gate relocations or reallocation of commercial spaces. For example, the terminal architecture and structure can be designed with a more open floor plan to allow for the reorganization of gate lounges or new retail locations, similar to what we designed for the new Concourse B and C expansions at Denver International Airport (DEN). The innovative design of the IT fiber backbone and the network layout grid can also allow for future changes with airlines digital technology and passenger processing systems. The façade of a concourse can be designed with modular components to allow for jet bridges to move when the airlines change their fleet mix. These are just a few of the components that factor into a resilient terminal design that will withstand the test of time.

How do we help clients think differently to respond to these challenges and those of the future?

It’s not easy to predict future trends in the aviation industry, but we try to ground our design concepts with extensive research, analytics, and simulation software that help inform design decisions and provide resiliency to the terminal architecture. To help our clients better visualize these innovative designs, we run 3D passenger simulation models to provide optimal layouts for concourse gate lounges, restrooms, security checkpoints, and even locate retail and restaurants to provide optimum revenue. 

Jacobs has a deep bench of global aviation experts, and we leverage these resources to help educate the client about cutting-edge trends at other airports around the world. Many clients with new terminal expansions are used to their way of operating the older terminals and it can be a challenge to learn how to run the new and more complex facilities. Throughout the entire design and construction process, we bring in our ORAT team to work with the airport stakeholders to ensure that they are a key part of the process and understand how to operate and maintain the new facilities.

Where do you see the industry heading from here? 

I see terminal design becoming focused on elevating the passenger experience by providing more efficient operations, amenities, and an enhanced architecture design that provides for more calming and uplifting spaces. Travel can be stressful, and passengers want a seamless experience from the curb to the gate. The more efficiently we can process travelers through the ticket hall, baggage systems, and security checkpoints, the more time they have to enjoy the amenities on the airside of the terminal. Airline gate holdrooms can be transformed into a more lounge like experience where the lines become blurred between restaurants, gate seating, and queuing. This not only benefits the passenger, but also increases revenue for airports with increased spending on commercial amenities.

What are the biggest opportunities ahead for aviation in the Americas?

Some of the largest opportunities for airports is to harvest more on-site renewable energies to help reduce their carbon footprint and ultimately save on energy costs and overall fossil fuel infrastructure. Our team is currently working on some architectural designs at DEN and Bangalore International Airport that generate enough renewable energy through photovoltaic facades and underground geothermal systems to offset the annual energy demands of the building. The ultimate goal is to completely decarbonize many of these airports by 2040. 

Is there a project you’re particularly proud of?

Our design team recently completed two major concourse expansions at Denver International Airport. We designed the concourses with abundant natural lighting, acoustic improvements, innovative restrooms, and a cutting-edge digital wayfinding system to enhance the passenger journey. Additionally, an outdoor deck was added as a unique feature where passengers awaiting flights could relax next to fire pits and enjoy the atmosphere of the Rocky Mountains. Working with DEN, our team also focused on a specific concessions strategy that elevated the passenger experience while also generating maximum revenue. As part of the strategy, designing flexibility was key to ensuring the viability of potential future concessions and retail. The team also fine-tuned the building façade treatment to reduce glare, maximize daylighting, minimize heat gain, and optimize cost savings. This project achieved LEED Gold Certification, and the design served as a catalyst for renovation of DEN’s existing concourses to align with the elevated passenger experiences achieved on this project. 

I am also proud of the work our design teams have accomplished across the country with our aviation support facilities and infrastructure projects, particularly the new maintenance facility at St. Louis International Airport (STL). These projects are essential for the success of our airports as we strive to transform them for the future. 

In St. Louis, we successfully designed a cutting-edge airfield maintenance facility. We worked closely with airport leadership to create an innovative, inclusive and efficient space that will lay the groundwork for the future of Lambert Airport. By skillfully integrating advanced software and 3D modeling, we allowed all stakeholders to experience the facility virtually during the design phase. This approach enabled the collective team to navigate the spaces in a virtual environment and visualize how all building systems would work together. Both Jacobs and client leadership became true partners in the hands-on design process, resulting in a facility that everyone can be proud of.