Episode 5: Airport Design—How It’s Changing Due to COVID and Beyond
Along with everything else, COVID-19 is changing the way we travel, and especially how we fly. Eric covered this topic for Travel + Leisure, but he and Kathryn wanted to delve further into how airports are taking on sustainability and environmental issues, and how they will have to adapt to new and changing demands around traveler wellbeing, both related to the pandemic and beyond.
Light and greenery feature prominently in Gensler’s designs for Incheon International Airport in Seoul. Photo courtesy of Gensler.
For perspectives on the future of airport development and design, we talk with Terence Young, an aviation principal and design director at the architecture firm Gensler. Terence fills us in on the ways designers, cities, airlines and governments, not to mention fliers themselves, are looking at the evolving airport experience and what we can all expect in the coming years.
Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Business Class Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport features a yoga and meditation studio called The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga. Photo courtesy of Cathay Pacific.
For a specific example, we hear from Cathay Pacific head of brand insights, Ed Bell, to learn how the airline is designing their lounges and working with airports in general to improve the passenger experience and promote traveler health.