Among the nine terminal buildings at Los Angeles International Airport, Delta?EUR??,,????'???s Terminal Five is distinct. It breathes the spirit of Southern California, bathed at night in soft light, its palm trees visible from the street. Visitors enter via the parking garage bridge or the street at the second level and are led into the terminal by rectilinear forms flowing through and along the length of the concourse. Each form is defined in terms of light level and color, providing a sense of transition for the traveler.

How this terminal came to join land to sky as a stage where actors play out their travels is a story of close teamwork from day one of the project.

What emerged was a remarkably unified new terminal with positive emotional impact. It recreates what Jim Murphy, writing about another terminal in Progressive Architecture, calls ”...the kind of gateway historically associated with great rail stations, to make the experience of leaving or entering a city memorable again.” The manner in which Terminal Five makes Los Angeles memorable represents the cutting edge in contemporary airport and lighting design.

The architect?EUR??,,????'???s solution suggested a Southern California

At Terminal Five, the architect’s challenge was not only to remodel the existing terminal for then Western Airlines, but also to design a 370,000-square foot expansion. A new building to connect the existing ticketing and satellite boarding buildings would be built. The satellite building would be modified and expanded to accommodate more passengers through additional gates Enclosed passenger loading bridges would be installed at every gate, and a new automated baggage handling system would be added. The finishing touch was a pedestrian overpass spanning the upper level of the airport roadway from the multi-level parking structure to the ticketing building.

Inside the Southern California atmosphere of Delta Airline?EUR??,,????'???s Terminal Five, swirling curves superimposed over straight lines and angles are further accented by high-gloss finishes and softly brushed metals.

When Gensler introduced the concept of a Southern California boulevard as the unifying theme, Lighting Consultant John Lomeli and Landscape Architect Larry Moline of Lawrence Reed Moline, Ltd., were already members of the project team. They fully grasped the intent of the idea and shared the vision of what it could become.

The solution they designed follows the theme’s mandate for bright and cloudless skies with the promise of golden sunsets. The vaulted ceiling suggests a sky architecturally, and thoughtful choice and placement of light sources completes the illusion with subtle effect. Metal halide lamps, mounted high on the supporting columns, direct illumination toward the flat white plane of the ceiling, which bounces the light back to the floor. A strip light, secured in a shallow recess where vertical walls intersect with the ceiling eliminates high, dark corners. Not only do the farthest reaches of the ceiling become visible, but, like the proscenium at the entry, the ceiling appears to hover, floating lightly above the walls.

Horizons are indeed golden where earth meets sky in this slice of Southern California.

Arriving passengers also experience a dramatic transition in the short walk through the loading bridge from the aircraft cabin. Under the expansiveness of sunny Southern California skies, they are met by stately ranks of palms, striking components of the sensuous style and charm for which the region is famous.

The live palms are a spectacular element on the stage, a perfect setting to relieve the effects of long hours in confined space and recirculated air. Twenty-five-foot Mexican Fan Palms (Washingtonia robusta) tower above the escalators and slower growing Windmill Palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) of varying heights flank the concourse. These outdoor varieties were purchased a year in advance in order to acclimate them over time to reduced levels of interior light.

Warm lighting gives travelers a healthy, natural glow

Even with acclimatization, palm trees need approximately 1000 footcandles of light each day. With valuable advice from Moline, Lomeli and the Gensler team worked together to provide it. Lomeli augmented the small square skylight over each palm with combinations of two and three 400W metal halide fixtures. These downlights, aimed at the plant head, focusing light where it does the most good without bright glare to distract the public. Because even trees need a rest, timers shut the lights off for three hours each night.

Variations on these forms of illumination in other areas of Terminal Five create special effects. A series of cove lights along the three-story escalator well banishes the sense of descending into a cave to retrieve baggage. The entire ceiling plane is warmly lit in the style of the general areas. Over baggage carousels, however, metal halide tasklighting generates a high level of white light. Baggage color is undistorted, enabling easy identification of baggage and tags.

Considerations for maintenance and energy usage were important factors in the lighting design. The idea of a large skylight the full length of the concourse was rejected early in the design phase because of the heavy usage it would place on the air conditioning system. Instead, the smaller, strategically-placed skylights coupled with artificial lights create the illusion of open sky very successfully. Where special accents were needed, fluorescent downlights were chosen. In plant areas, low-voltage lights give good coloration with no color shift and a lot of punch for the energy input. A principle of Gensler’s airport design is the effort to “identify new ways of bringing together technology, expediency, and comfort for the benefit of the user.” In teaming early with technical consultants, the firm was able to realize this goal at Terminal Five because, although the architect set the direction, the consultants’ responses created reciprocal effects that: manifested in the Even if Michelangelo had been available, his cumulus clouds and plump cherubim wouldn’t have been the answer for the ceiling of a Southern California air terminal in the jet age. It is not heaven this building attempts to evoke, but the illusion of an earth full of interest, comfort, and delight.

“You come away with a very warm feeling about that space,” says Lomeli. “It’s a very theatrical space, with great drama.” The integral incorporation of light is part of the reason why.

Ron Steiner is a vice president of Gensler and Associates/Architects. Anne Moore is director of written communications at Gensler.