Hollywood Burbank Airport’s $1.3B terminal opens Oct. 13

Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) is getting a $1.3 billion replacement passenger terminal that will open Oct. 13 just north of the current terminal. The new facility keeps the airport’s signature outdoor boarding and no-jet-bridge setup, while expanding gates,

On a sunny morning in Hollywood, the boarding routine has long been part of the charm: passengers walk onto the tarmac and climb up the airstairs to get on their planes, with no jetways in sight.

That experience is set to continue. even as Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) prepares to swap out its aging terminal building with a replacement project worth $1.3 billion. The new Replacement Passenger Terminal is scheduled to open Oct. 13, just north of the current terminal—after which the old terminal will be razed.

BUR sits 12 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, making it the closest LA-area airport to attractions such as Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood and Universal Studios Hollywood. Nine commercial airlines serve the airport with nonstop flights to about 30 destinations across North America.

For travelers, the promise is simple: keep the laid-back feel, but raise the level of convenience. For the airport itself, the driver is harder to ignore. The current facility—a 14-gate, two-concourse building dating back to 1930—has outgrown both modern-day passenger needs and required standards.

It barely meets modern Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, and it has limits on concessions, amenities, and hold room seating. The terminal building also does not meet California’s seismic standards. nor does it comply with current Federal Aviation Administration rules for distance from the main runway. Neither repairing the existing terminal nor rebuilding it in the same spot was an option.

“It’s been decades in the making,” Patrick Lammerding, the airport’s deputy executive director of operations, security and safety management systems, said of the replacement project.

The new terminal will keep the same number of gates—14—while expanding the footprint to 335,000 square feet from the current 232,000 square feet. It will also include a new, much larger parking garage.

Inside, the layout is designed for modern screening and flow. There will be one central eight-lane TSA checkpoint. floor-to-ceiling windows. a new baggage screening system. and a single baggage claim area with three carousels. Amenities are set to expand as well, with upgraded restrooms, pet relief areas, and more shopping and dining options.

Curb-to-gate convenience remains a selling point of BUR, and the airport is determined not to break what people like about the airport’s old-school approach. In design workshops that sought community input, Lammerding said a “big thing that came out was the people like boarding planes outdoors.”

“They also wanted us to keep things convenient and not screw it up,” he said. Ground boarding will continue, and the airport will still have no jet bridges.

The visual identity of the terminal is being shaped by BUR’s Hollywood roots. Community members told planners they wanted the design to draw inspiration from Hollywood’s “Golden Age” and the film industry’s connection to the area. The result is described as “the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood. ” reflected in everything from the shape of the building to the materials used.

A metallic canopy will shield travelers from the sun and visually tie the terminal to the parking garage. Brent Kelley. managing principal at Corgan. said the material is silver “to give you the idea of the silver screen that was part of moviemaking and movie theaters.” A plan to show old black-and-white movies on the portion of the canopy attached to the garage was discussed but rejected because it could be too distracting for drivers; instead. that space will serve as a marquee for the Hollywood Burbank Airport sign.

The canopy’s structure also carries a visual idea from the movies. Kelley said that because a big canopy needs support, the design team “canted those columns to evoke the idea of the searchlights that would shine in the air whenever there was a new Hollywood movie premiere.”

Inside the terminal, terrazzo flooring will feature spotlight-shaped inlays that function as both whimsical touches and wayfinding tools. Even the restroom design points to the past, with individual, illuminated, oval-shaped mirrors instead of a single large mirror in the vanity areas.

Outside, travelers will encounter public art: “The Two Electras,” a pair of 16-foot-tall, illuminated ellipses by Cliff Garten. The sculpture takes inspiration from the Lockheed Model 10E Electra Special. the iconic aircraft on which Lockheed engineer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson worked early in his career. Built at this site in 1936, the plane was flown by Amelia Earhart during her 1937 attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

Inside the terminal. artist Glenn Kaino’s installation hangs from the ceiling: a massive 30-by-40-foot steel mesh and mirrored ribbon piece titled “When We Reflect.” Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works operation was based near the current-day Hollywood Burbank Airport from 1943 until the early 1990s. and it developed aircraft including the U-2. SR-71 Blackbird. and F-117 Nighthawk.

During World War II, the factory was disguised as a suburban neighborhood to protect it from potential air attacks. The camouflage included netting made by Japanese Americans who were incarcerated under Executive Order 9066 at the nearby Santa Anita Assembly Center. Kaino’s family was among those incarcerated at Santa Anita. and that history is reflected in his installation at the airport’s new replacement terminal.

The project’s design-build team is led by Holder, Pankow, TEC, Joint Venture (HPTJV). Corgan provides architectural services for the project, in association with CannonDesign.

Hollywood Burbank Airport BUR $1.3 billion terminal Oct. 13 opening replacement terminal TSA checkpoint ADA standards seismic standards outdoor boarding no jet bridges Corgan