THE EERO HOTEL | SUSTAINABILITY & URBAN DESIGN STUDIO

 JFK INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL | 2014

Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal was one of the most groundbreaking and futuristic structures of its time and still remains an icon for air travel and architectural glamour. Unfortunately, this structure is no longer in use. This project focuses on embracing and reusing this structure as an airport hotel and recreation space. The current JetBlue terminal adjacent to the TWA terminal is expanding to include a new international terminal. Due to this scale of this and historical prominence of this prompt, there were a few essential concepts to explore:

Movement: This site is complex in that the hotel will need to be placed amongst crossroads between a massive parking garage, international & domestic terminals and, of course, the TWA terminal. By tracking the present and expected movement of both pedestrian and motor vehicles throughout the site, it became clear that specific nodes of connectivity were required. Therefore two carefully intersecting structures were created--one Landside Hotel, and one Airside Hotel. These two structures behave independently to respect regulations regarding airport security, but share central atriums allowing for a continuous stream of movement between various types of visitors. 

Restoration: This structure aims to highlight the TWA terminal through reflectivity in its curtain wall design without overpowering the unique language of Saarinen's project. Bridges connecting to the atrium create vantage points of TWA allowing for an ease of navigation through this building. Those visitors who arrived specifically to visit the hotel can stay on the domestic side with grand views of Saarinen's terminal. Those visitors who will be staying for short periods between travels will receive a view similar to that of the original TWA terminal facing outwards to the airplane runways. At the upper levels of the hotels are a Museum of Air Travel History as well as a restaurant--both of which receive generous views.

Energy Systems: This project is a large scale intervention providing several means of flow in and out of these airport facilities. Therefore, it was very important to consider any energy use aspects within the scope. Below are calculations of The Eero Hotel's radiant floor heating system and green roof system located on the accessible rooftops of the Airside and Landside Hotels, respectively.