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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Airport-scale mass timber succeeds when it is treated as a coordinated building system rather than a decorative finish. Monterey Regional Airport’s replacement terminal shows the practical sequence: set measurable goals, settle the code path with officials, place timber where passengers experience it, integrate every concealed service with the exposed structure, and bring fabricators and builders into design early. The project is a hybrid timber-and-steel terminal, not an all-timber airport, and that distinction is central to planning your own facility.
Monterey Regional Airport: a useful project benchmark
Monterey’s replacement terminal is planned as a five-gate passenger facility. Building Design + Construction described it in 2025 as approximately 60,000 square feet, while a 2026 construction update from Monterey Regional Airport reports 62,754 square feet. Those figures come from different project reports and should not be merged into one definitive area without confirming the latest contract documents.
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| Project item | Reported information |
|---|---|
| Gates | Five, according to HOK’s project description |
| Area | Approximately 60,000 square feet (Building Design + Construction, 2025); 62,754 square feet (Monterey Regional Airport, 2026) |
| Structural approach | Glulam beams and columns plus cross-laminated timber (CLT) decking or panels, paired with steel |
| Public expression | Exposed glulam and CLT define the main passenger hall |
| Code strategy | Type IIA classification with a heavy-timber roof, selected through early owner and code-official coordination |
| Opening and status | HOK anticipates opening in 2027; the airport reported in 2026 that mass-timber installation was complete and interior walls, siding, and glazing were next |
HOK describes the terminal as all-electric and net-zero-energy-ready while tracking LEED Platinum certification. Its design-story narrative projects energy demand about 34% below a LEED v4 baseline and identifies an original 37% embodied-carbon-reduction target for the hybrid structure. The same narrative notes 862 kilowatts of existing on-site photovoltaic capacity. These are project projections, targets, or certification plans—not measured post-occupancy results. The airport remains under construction, so certification and operational performance should not be described as achieved.
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1. Establish performance goals before choosing the timber system
Start with outcomes, not a species, panel thickness, or visual rendering. The owner, airport operator, design team, and facilities staff should agree on the performance brief before structural options are fixed.
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Define the goals that will govern trade-offs
- Energy: Decide whether the target is code compliance, a modeled reduction against a stated baseline, net-zero-energy readiness, or actual net-zero operation.
- Embodied carbon: Set a boundary and baseline. A target for the structural frame is different from a whole-building life-cycle result.
- Passenger experience: Identify where warmth, daylight, acoustics, wayfinding, and a recognizable local character matter most.
- Operations and maintenance: Establish cleaning, inspection, repair, replacement, moisture monitoring, and future security requirements before surfaces are left exposed.
- Schedule and budget: Set decision dates for procurement, shop drawings, mock-ups, and long-lead connections.
Monterey’s published sustainability numbers illustrate why definitions matter. “About 34% below a LEED v4 baseline” describes modeled energy demand, while “37% embodied-carbon reduction” was an original target for the hybrid structural design. Neither number is a guarantee of final building performance. Record the baseline, scope, modeling assumptions, and responsible party in the project requirements so later value engineering can be tested against the same yardstick.
2. Resolve the code strategy with officials at the beginning
Mass timber in an airport cannot be approved by applying a generic rule from another jurisdiction. Occupancy, building height, area, fire-resistance approach, egress, and the adopted edition of the governing code determine what is feasible. Monterey’s team selected Type IIA construction and incorporated a heavy-timber roof after early coordination with the owner and code officials. That is a project-specific strategy, not a universal prescription for airport terminals.
Build a code decision record
- Confirm the jurisdiction and adopted code editions. Include amendments, fire code, accessibility provisions, airport standards, and any authority-having-jurisdiction interpretations.
- Map the building envelope and occupancy assumptions. Document height, area, fire areas, exits, assembly functions, concessions, baggage operations, and back-of-house zones.
- Test construction types and fire-resistance assemblies. Identify where exposed timber is proposed, where protection is required, and how penetrations, connections, and concealed voids will be treated.
- Meet the code officials before schematic design is locked. Bring preliminary plans, sections, a structural concept, and a list of proposed timber products so unresolved questions become design tasks rather than permit surprises.
- Carry approvals into later packages. Shop drawings, substitutions, connection details, firestopping, and field changes must remain consistent with the accepted strategy.
Do not present Monterey’s Type IIA solution as advice that automatically applies to another airport. A different height, area, jurisdiction, or operational arrangement can produce a different allowable system.
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3. Use timber where it creates the most value, not everywhere by default
A hybrid frame lets the design team spend timber where passengers see and feel it while using steel where serviceability, geometry, loading, or cost makes it more practical. HOK’s account places glulam beams and CLT panels in the public hall and identifies steel for back-of-house and perimeter areas. This selective approach can preserve a strong architectural identity without forcing one material into every condition.
Make a placement plan
- Public hall: Exposed glulam beams, columns, and CLT can establish the ceiling rhythm and help orient passengers.
- Back-of-house: Steel may simplify dense equipment, baggage, maintenance, and service zones where the structure is largely hidden.
- Perimeter and interfaces: Select the material that best resolves long spans, façade connections, expansion joints, and weather exposure.
- Transition zones: Detail the boundary between timber and steel for fire protection, movement, moisture control, tolerances, and inspection access.
“More timber” is not the same as “better timber design.” Concentrating the material in high-visibility areas can reduce unnecessary complexity while protecting the passenger-facing concept. The structural engineer should compare span, vibration, deflection, connection, fire, and erection requirements for each zone instead of assuming that one frame type will be optimal throughout.
Compare airport examples without treating them as templates
| Example | Timber expression | Steel relationship | What the example demonstrates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey Regional Airport replacement terminal | Glulam beams and columns with CLT decking or panels defining the passenger hall | Steel used with the timber frame, including back-of-house and perimeter applications | A selective, passenger-focused hybrid strategy |
| Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Concourse D Annex | Glulam beams | Steel trusses | Timber can form a visible architectural layer while steel handles complementary structural demands |
Published sources do not establish a comparable budget, local-sourcing percentage, or final carbon result for both examples. Treat each as a design precedent, then validate the approach against your own procurement market and airport constraints.
4. Design the exposed ceiling around every hidden system
An exposed timber ceiling removes the easiest place to hide mistakes. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, lighting, information technology, security, signage, and access panels all compete for the same visual and physical space. Riddle’s guidance, as reported by Building Design + Construction, is to plan these systems early so they can run through walls and floors or appear in an organized ceiling composition. HOK says its architecture, MEP, structural, lighting, and IT teams coordinated from the start.
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- Freeze the architectural zones. Identify the areas where beams and CLT remain visible, the sightlines that must stay clear, and the access points passengers will notice.
- Reserve structural corridors. Mark allowable penetrations, beam zones, panel joints, connection clearances, and areas that cannot be drilled or cut in the field.
- Lay out major services first. Coordinate air distribution, smoke control, electrical feeders, plumbing mains, fire-protection piping, data, security, and lighting before secondary supports.
- Choose an intentional presentation. Align exposed ducts, linear lights, sprinklers, and cable pathways with the timber rhythm, or route them into walls, floors, and dedicated ceiling pockets.
- Model maintenance access. Verify that filters, valves, detectors, cameras, fixtures, and inspection points can be reached without damaging timber or closing critical passenger areas.
- Review a full-size sample area. Use a coordinated ceiling mock-up to resolve color, fasteners, sprinkler spacing, acoustic treatment, signage, and cleaning access before repetitive fabrication.
Late coordination creates more than visual clutter. It can force unplanned penetrations, reduce fire-protection continuity, complicate inspections, and produce field changes that erase schedule and carbon assumptions. Make the reflected ceiling plan, structural model, and services model a single coordination exercise.
5. Bring fabricators and builders into design before the drawings are fixed
Mass timber is manufactured to a detailed digital and fabrication workflow. Early input from a timber fabricator and the construction team can test whether the proposed grid, panel sizes, connection sequence, transport route, crane plan, tolerances, and protection measures are realistic. Monterey’s team identified Timberlab as an early design collaborator for feasibility and budget coordination; the published account does not establish a referral arrangement or commercial terms.
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Ask for constructability answers early
- What member and panel sizes can the regional plant produce within the required schedule?
- How will pieces be packaged, transported, stored, protected from weather, and lifted at an operating airport?
- Which connections are shop-installed, which are field-installed, and how will inspectors access them?
- What tolerances are required where timber meets steel, glazing, roofing, mechanical supports, and fire-rated construction?
- How will temporary bracing, sequencing, and fall protection work around passenger, airside, and security restrictions?
- Which finish, moisture, and damage criteria trigger repair, replacement, or acceptance?
Use the answers to establish a procurement and installation plan before issuing a final structural package. Early collaboration also gives the estimator a basis for pricing the actual hybrid system rather than an abstract material allowance. If the supply chain, erection sequence, or airport access plan changes, revisit the architectural expression and performance targets together instead of treating those decisions as independent.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.6. Treat the terminal as an operating airport, not only a structure
Airport projects must remain maintainable, secure, inspectable, and adaptable after construction. Timber decisions affect passenger circulation, security equipment, smoke management, lighting, acoustics, signage, concession fit-outs, and future tenant work. The design team should involve airport operations and facilities staff alongside the code officials, engineers, fabricators, and builder.
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Complete an operational readiness checklist
- Security: Confirm camera views, access-control devices, screening layouts, cable routes, and the ability to replace equipment without cutting exposed members.
- Fire and life safety: Coordinate detectors, sprinklers, smoke-control interfaces, rated assemblies, inspection paths, and emergency signage with the timber geometry.
- Moisture and durability: Protect members during transport and erection, define acceptable moisture and finish conditions, and document inspection responsibilities.
- Cleaning and repairs: Specify how dust, spills, de-icing residues, and accidental impacts will be handled in public areas.
- Future change: Reserve pathways and attachment zones for airline, retail, information, and technology upgrades.
- Commissioning: Test integrated systems, verify access to every maintainable component, and record as-built timber and connection information for the facilities team.
Monterey’s all-electric, net-zero-energy-ready ambition makes this operational discipline especially important: modeled performance depends on commissioned systems and how the terminal is actually run. The 862-kilowatt on-site photovoltaic capacity reported by HOK is an existing project resource, not proof that the completed terminal will achieve a particular annual energy balance.
What to lock before construction documents
Before releasing the package, the owner should be able to answer these questions in writing:
- Which energy, embodied-carbon, certification, maintenance, and passenger-experience goals are contractual, and which are aspirations?
- Which code path has been reviewed with the authority having jurisdiction, and what assumptions must remain unchanged?
- Where is timber visible, where is steel preferred, and how are their interfaces detailed?
- Are every MEP, fire-protection, lighting, IT, and security route coordinated with the exposed ceiling and approved access strategy?
- Have the fabricator and builder validated production, transport, erection, weather protection, tolerances, and airport logistics?
- Can operations staff inspect, clean, repair, and modify the terminal without compromising the timber or life-safety systems?
The Monterey case shows a repeatable planning method rather than a universal airport design. Set the outcomes, obtain a jurisdiction-specific code strategy, concentrate timber where it matters, coordinate the ceiling as a complete systems assembly, and validate the build with the people who will fabricate, erect, operate, and maintain it.
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