TWA Hotel at JFK Airport takes off

PHOTOGRAPHY TWA HOTEL/DAVID MITCHELL; COURTESY OF PANY&NJ, PHOTO BY JOHN BARTELSTONE; © CHRISTOPHER PAYNE/ESTO

Eero Saarinen’s 1962 former Trans World Airlines terminal has been given new life as the centrepiece and arrival point for the new TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners served as project and preservation architect for the hotel, which includes 512 rooms in two new buildings flanking the original Flight Centre, partnering with MCR and MORSE Development.

“The opening of the TWA Hotel, after being dark for nearly two decades, is a momentous event in the life of this true modern icon,” said Richard W. Southwick, Partner and Director of Historic Preservation at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners. “My 25-year professional involvement with the preservation of the TWA Flight Centre and the opportunity to lead the architectural effort of our talented design partners has been a highlight of my career.”

Designed by Eero Saarinen, the TWA Flight Centre is one of the most iconic examples of midcentury modern architecture in the world. Since its opening in 1962, the building’s curvilinear lines and forms have served as a visual metaphor for flight and defined the modern airport terminal. Rendered obsolete by changes in the aviation industry, the terminal was closed in 2001, and stood vacant for nearly two decades.

Since 1994, Beyer Blinder Belle has played a central role at the TWA Flight Centre, first as advocates to save it from demolition – working with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey – then restoring and repositioning the Flight Centre into a contemporary destination for MCR/Morse.

The site was expanded with two new hotel structures and an underground conference centre to transform it into the TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport. The firm’s design elegantly and respectfully accomplishes two seemingly disparate goals: It preserves the integrity of the 1962 Flight Centre, and reactivates it as the heart of a dynamic hotel with restaurants, retail, conference centre, ballroom, and other amenities.

Defined by soaring sculptural concrete structures, the striking spatial experiences of the Flight Centre have been brought back to their original glamour. Beyer Blinder Belle used as-built record drawings dating from 1964 to inform its work.

The two guestroom wings flanking the Flight Centre include 86 presidential full and junior suites, and 426 double and king rooms. Many of the king rooms are oriented to face the glass curtain wall focused on views of the historic Flight Centre or the airfield. The rooms evoke a mid-century modern design with walnut tambour accent walls, Saarinen-designed womb chairs and tulip tables, and a period martini bar. The double-loaded corridor, entered from the elevator lobby at the end of the building, is softened by the gentle curve of the structure. Lubrano Ciavarra was the design architect for the hotel buildings, working with Beyer Blinder Belle on their execution. Stonehill Taylor provided the interior design for the guestrooms and lobbies.

The Conference Centre and the adjoining Pre-function space are located 29 feet (8,8m) below grade directly east of the Flight Centre. Consisting of a large sub-dividable Banquet Hall, and multiple conference rooms on two levels, the Centre is accessed through a pair of ornamental stairs on either end of the two-storey Pre-function space. These two major public spaces are separated by a set of double-height hangar doors, and both the Pre-function and Banquet spaces have balconies with meeting rooms overlooking the public area. In total, there are 41 meeting rooms ranging from 120 SF to 1 100 SF in addition to the 7 000 SF main Banquet Hall. The forms and finishes in the Conference Centre interpret Saarinen’s design palette with hardwoods, terrazzo floors and brass detailing. Interior design for the Conference Centre was provided by INC.

Materials have been painstakingly sourced for reproduction from around the world, in some cases drawn from sample boards housed in the Saarinen Archive at Yale University. Interior details are authentic to original designs, and are essential to maintaining the jet-age atmosphere.

Reinvigorating the TWA Flight Centre provides a unique opportunity to increase public appreciation of mid-century design. Cultural experiences include a fully restored 1958 Lockheed Constellation airplane – one of only four still in existence – “parked” on the tarmac between the two flight tubes where it serves as a lounge, and a collection of aviation and architectural artefacts celebrates mid-century design, the work of Eero Saarinen, and the Flight Centre’s history.