RDU terminal's design mimics Piedmont

Denver architect Curt Fentress was in town the other day to see how sunlight plays beneath the wavy roofline of his latest creation, a $570 million passenger terminal at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

This weekend, RDU will open the first phase of Terminal 2 -- with 19 of its planned 32 gates ready for business. The airport's red-roofed Terminal C is to be razed this fall to make way for the rest of Terminal 2.

"Even on a cloudy day here," Fentress said, gazing up at a clerestory that illuminates the security checkpoint room, "you can see there's a lot of daylight streaming in the building."

Fentress, a Guilford County native who trained at N.C. State University, is known for designing airports in Denver and Incheon, South Korea, and museums in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Quantico, Va. His works take their shape from surrounding landscapes, such as the Colorado Rockies or Wyoming cliffs.

Terminal 2 brings to mind the North Carolina Piedmont.

"The roof form of the rolling hills outside gives you a kind of rolling form on the inside," Fentress explained. "It gives you a feeling of motion, so you just feel like flowing with it."

RDU travelers -- 10 million last year -- are not accustomed to what Fentress calls a "graceful flow." Take Terminal C. (Please!)

"You come in, and it has that funny narrow building at the front," Marvin Malecha, dean of NCSU's College of Design, said of Terminal C. "When you go down into the baggage carousel, you feel like you're kind of going into a storage room."

Malecha says RDU officials took a bold step when they commissioned Fentress to design a terminal that will shape impressions for millions of Triangle visitors.

"There's an elegance that will be apparent when you arrive at this place," Malecha said. "It has a feeling of spaciousness and light. I like the roof form of the building, that graceful curve. I think that's a statement."

The broad entry hall is sunlit and not obstructed by columns. Walls and counters are wrapped in maple, granite and steel beneath Douglas fir trusses that support the undulating roof.

The passenger concourse is dressed in grays, muted browns and pale greens. The deepest hues are reserved for quilt patterns of green and brown marble tiles that line the restroom entranceways.

Its retail roster qualifies Terminal 2 as a minor mall. Among the restaurants are Raleigh's 42nd Street Oyster Bar, Carolina Ale House, California Pizza Kitchen and Gordon Biersch. Shops include Anders Natural Soap, Borders, Techshowcase and Taxco Sterling.

Terminal 2 earned mostly good reviews at an Oct. 11 open house.

"Finally, they're giving people an impression of what the Triangle is like, a bleeding-edge airport that matches a sort of bleeding-edge technology community," said Ian Arcuri, 43, of Cary.

Sankaran Asokan of Cary, a globetrotting cardiologist, was harder to please.

"This architecture is pretty mundane," said Asokan, 70. "I wish they could have softened it a little bit, to have a little Southern look somewhere. I love Carolina architecture."

Still, he gave RDU high marks for building an efficient terminal that will help travelers move in and out more easily.

"Functionally, it is excellent," Asokan said.

Terminal 2 has three gates for international flights and a dedicated corridor that takes passengers to an expanded passport and customs center big enough to process 400 people an hour.

"This is big progress," Asokan said, standing at the baggage carousel for international travelers.

Fentress said Terminal 2 has a wide-open, flexible design that will adapt to changes in security requirements, airline operations and consumer tastes.

"In this business, everything keeps moving," he said. "You can run up here and get an e-ticket, so we need less ticket counter space now."

Airports used to have more shops and restaurants outside the security checkpoint, accessible to customers without airline tickets.

"Now everybody wants to get through security, and then go to the retail spaces," Fentress said.

Malecha, the NCSU dean, said Terminal 2's success will come when it is full of travelers with delayed flights and time to kill. One amenity is more power outlets and USB computer ports in the waiting area seats.

"These kinds of qualities are like symphony hall acoustics," Malecha said. "You almost can't tell what it's like until you have a symphony orchestra playing, and it's filled with people."