Our LaGuardia Airport Master Plan pointed the way to the spatial and operational improvements that will give New York City the airport it deserves.

SHoP was honored to be selected as a finalist in the Master Plan Design Competition for New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Launched by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Vice President Joseph Biden in the fall of 2014, the goal was to reimagine the entirety of LGA as a fully-integrated, world-class facility. Emphasis was placed on creating a unified terminal environment, improved landside and airside operations, optimized transit access, and the finest experience for travelers throughout.

The bridges between the main terminal and the concourses are more than a convenient feature of the hyper-efficient island scheme. They offer many advantages over a tunneled connection, including allowing views over the airfield to the skyline of Manhattan—a truly classic New York entrance.
SHoP’s solution was to take a holistic approach to planning the future of New York’s essential business and tourist gateway. We incorporated into our design not only spaces that evoke a dramatic and appropriate sense of place, but a broad range of innovative operational improvements as well. Comprehensive phasing, gate-use, and fabrication/assembly studies were also prepared.
At the east end of the airport, where it abuts Flushing Bay, the soaring roof of the new LaGuardia extends in a broad canopy to shelter a state-of-the-art fast-ferry port. This location was chosen over the conventional Marine Air Terminal location in order to consolidate points of entry into the airport, but also to eliminate transfer by bus to the terminal area on the other side of the airfield, which can add many minutes to a trip to or from Manhattan.
Our plan proposes the adaptive reuse of LaGuardia's historic Marine Air Terminal as the anchor of a cultural and recreational campus and the home of a new public institution: The Empire State Air & Space Museum.
  • phase completed
  • size 13,000,000 sf

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