What's an airport authority to do when a historic terminal sits less than a football field away from where planes take off and land? It can move the building, but when it's near the entertainment capital of Los Angeles, a relocation calls for some cinematic flair.
Architecture firms Corgan and CannonDesign intend for the new terminal — relocated to a different part of the 555-acre Hollywood Burbank Airport site — to serve as a tribute to Hollywood's Golden Age. The canopy over the main entrance was inspired by the image of a silver screen, with columns at the entrance slanted, rather than standing straight up, to be reminiscent of the searchlights once used during movie premieres.
"The theme is definitely a throwback to old Hollywood," Brent Kelley, managing principal at Corgan, told CoStar News.
Construction is ongoing on the 355,000-square-foot terminal in the northeast portion of the Hollywood Burbank Airport property in Burbank, California. Expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2026, the airport served by carriers including Southwest Airlines and American Airlines hosted about 6.6 million passengers last year, according to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.
The $1.3 billion project comes as airports worldwide "are being reimagined at a pace and scale not seen in decades," according to a report this month by Gensler, an architecture firm not involved in the Hollywood Burbank project. Passenger volume is setting records despite obsolete airport systems in many parts of the world, Gensler said.
New terminals have recently opened or are under construction in New York, Houston and Portland, Oregon. Los Angeles International Airport, south of Hollywood Burbank Airport, is undergoing a $30 billion expansion that includes a new transit center, an elevated people-mover line, improved roadways, new boarding gates and terminal renovations. LAX was the fifth-busiest U.S. airport in 2024, serving more than 76 million passengers, according to Airports Council International-North America.
Outdated site layouts
"Airports in North America that are experiencing footprint growth in both airside and landside operations … find that the planning principles and site layouts of the original configuration are no longer optimal," Jeff Mechlem, a principal and architect at Stantec, told CoStar News. Stantec is not involved in the Hollywood Burbank Airport project.
In the case of Hollywood Burbank Airport's terminal, the suboptimal layout was considered to be related to dangerous accidents before the call was made to move the building. The decision came after a Southwest Airlines jet skidded off the runway and through a fence before coming to a halt at a nearby gas station in 2000, and another incident where a wheel that came off an aircraft rolled to the terminal and destroyed a baggage cart.
The airport was in the spotlight for another safety reason on Oct. 6, when dozens of flights were canceled or delayed due to staffing shortages at the air traffic control tower following the federal government shutdown, according to multiple media outlets. The airport's social media page said operations are continuing during the shutdown, but to check with individual airlines for possible delays or cancellations.
Built in 1930 to support the military and later occupied by aeronautics manufacturer Lockheed, Hollywood Burbank Airport is squeezed into a tight spot enclosed by Empire Avenue and Hollywood Way. The terminal was built before the advent of larger jet airplanes and is not capable of serving the larger aircraft efficiently.
The pre-World War II building being replaced also sits as close as 250 feet from the main runway, creating a major safety hazard, Kelley said.
The new building "will resolve long-standing safety and accessibility issues with the current terminal," the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority said in a May 2024 statement about project funding.
The new terminal will be farther from the runway, with the closest spot about 880 feet away. Like the existing terminal, it will have 14 gates, and passengers will continue to walk outside and ascend canopy-covered ramps to board planes. The new terminal is expected to be 50% larger, with the extra space used to add more concession spaces and unify all security checkpoints into a single spot.
Moving the terminal also allowed Corgan and team partners to make better use of the limited space. The main entrance is set to be shifted north, and entering and exiting would be improved to reduce traffic backups.
Traffic backups
"Currently the terminal backs up traffic on Hollywood Way, but we are going to give vehicles a long space to pull in" to reduce congestion on local surface streets, Kelley said.
Streets, ramps and access driveways within the airport grounds are planned to be reconfigured to improve traffic flow, while a new parking garage with valet service is set to be constructed.
Shuttle vans will move travelers between the terminal and a rental car facility and mass transit stations.
The emphasis on design isn't just for show, according to architects who have worked on airport projects. Safety is the top priority.
Beyond that, airport officials know travelers have options, and unpleasant facilities are at risk of falling behind.
"Passengers are looking for rich experiences when traveling at their hometown and destination-connecting airports," Mechlem said. "Dynamic experiences with commissioned art, live performances and shopping provide incentives for passengers to arrive early."
For the record
Holder Construction, Charles Pankow Builders and TEC Constructors and Engineers are the general contractors. Jacobs is the program and construction manager. Burns & McDonnell is the civil engineer. Metropolitan Culinary Services is the food service and retail concessions provider for the new terminal.