Cleared for takeoff

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2011 (5173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You might want to bring your aviator sunglasses as the biggest construction project in Winnipeg’s history prepares to take flight.

The new state-of-the-art terminal building at the James Richardson International Airport will go live early Sunday morning and while you won’t be settling into any cockpits and flying anywhere — unless you’re an actual pilot, of course — the abundance of windows and natural sunlight flooding into the centrepiece of the nearly $600-million redevelopment, may require some protection for your eyes.

In fact, it wouldn’t be that surprising if you wore sunglasses for the entire time you are in the building, except for going through security — no need to arouse unnecessary suspicion — and getting on your plane, according to David Essex, Winnipeg-based principal and architect at Stantec Consulting, the prime consultant for the air terminal building.

“All the glass is an innovation. There’s so much glass and natural light, even the boarding bridges are made of glass,” he said.

“When you compare it to the (old) building, you see how introverted and closed-up it was.”

Truth be told, the outside glass of the new facility has a “curtain wall” with ceramic frit that helps reduce the amount of glare that gets in the building and will keep airport employees from having to lather on sunscreen before their shifts during the summer.

Still, it’s bright in there.

Allowing so much natural light into the building serves a number of purposes. First, it keeps costs to a minimum and reduces the need for headache-causing artificial light. But the open concept also makes getting from the front door of the building to the front door of your plane seem completely natural. That’s because you can see the plane’s nose from the second you get out of your car. Every step you take from there, getting your boarding pass, throwing your bags on the luggage belt, going through security and buying a coffee, is all done with your aircraft in plain view.

“In most airports, the first question you ask is, ‘Where do you go?’ Here, it’s immediately intuitive,” said Barry Rempel, president of the Winnipeg Airports Authority.

It was Rempel who went to the WAA board shortly after assuming the helm in 2002 and told his directors the terminal building that was built in 1964 and had served the city so well for more than four decades, was, well, terminal.

There was more than a little turbulence along the way to replace it — traditionalists wanted to remain in the old building, some faulty underground pipes in the new one caused lengthy delays — but nobody is happier about the pending ribbon cutting than Rempel. (If you were ever wondering how long until the opening was official, just ask him. He’s got a countdown clock that’s down to the second on his iPhone.)

“This is a first-class building. We learned a lot from other airports, what works and what doesn’t. We’re leading-edge but not bleeding-edge. You won’t see all of these features that we have anywhere,” Rempel said.

“We used to have a poor front door to our community, now we have a front door that befits Winnipeg.”

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca