PDX Airport x Sara Schmidt Design
The Portland International Airport has undergone massive renovations to increase capacity while paying homage to our region’s natural beauty — calling in the help of Pratt + Larson tile to infuse the space with meaningful storytelling.
Tile Dreams
Anyone who’s been to PDX knows it’s unlike any other American airport. Famous for creating a sense of place, it has a movie theater, art galleries, a barbershop, a bookstore, and even buskers, playing music for tips to passersby. It’s no wonder that Travel + Leisure Magazine named it America’s best airport for seven consecutive years. The team at ZGF Architects had their work cut out for them to usher this Portland staple into its next chapter.
Everybody loves the Portland airport. We had a tall order to evolve a terminal — that’s essentially multiple buildings pieced together since the 1950s — and double the capacity while designing an experience people will love as much as the original.”
Gene Sandoval, Design Partner
ZGF Architects
In the spirit of “the local-est airport ever,” the renovation brought together 30,000 people from the area — including builders, foresters, and chefs — to create the new PDX experience. It meant so much to us for Pratt + Larson to be included among so many incredible local creators and artisans.
Inspired by Portland’s natural landscape, ZGF employed a “comprehensive biophilic design strategy” to mimic the sensation of wandering through the Pacific Northwest’s famous forests. They enlisted the help of Designer Sara Schmidt, who has been collaborating with ZGF architects since 2018 on the experience of the airport, as the project’s Environmental Graphic Design Consultant.
Our goal as a design team was to provide positive, artful, and calming distractions for the passengers and employees navigating the airport daily. The travel experience is so active, and there is so much competing for our attention. Our hope was that the Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) of these mosaic murals (and other elements) added to the overall experience, and told the story of some of Oregon’s iconic natural elements.”
Sara Schmidt, EGD Consultant & Designer
Sara Schmidt Design, LLC
Enriching Spaces
“During the early stages of the design process, we learned from our research that navigating to the washrooms was a priority for most travelers,” Sara explains. “We then zoned these areas to aid in wayfinding in an intuitive way — via colorful artwork (in addition to signage) as a cue.”
Echoing the intimate scale of Portland’s neighborhoods, the new airport is designed as a series of rooms. Passengers move through areas of various scales to rest, recharge, and refuel on the path to their gate — and this includes mosaic murals in the washrooms of Concourse B and D, enhancing both the aesthetic and wayfinding experience.
As a lover of color, I had a lot of fun working with Pratt + Larson’s lovely palettes for the murals.”
Sara Schmidt, EGD Consultant & Designer
Sara Schmidt Design, LLC
The playfulness of the artwork speaks to the city of Portland’s self-described quirkiness. ”
Sara Schmidt, EGD Consultant & Designer
Sara Schmidt Design, LLC
We worked closely with Sara for several months to select 19 glazes from our glossy palette. As she points out, “To compliment the enormous scale of the new architecture, the EGD of these murals is intentionally huge.” In addition to color, the washroom murals are a celebration of scale and variation — the perfect fit for this new environment and telling the story of Portland.
I love Pratt and Larson’s tile for the perfectly imperfect quality of the colors. The variation makes it more interesting, and reinforces the concept of craft.”
Sara Schmidt, EGD Consultant & Designer
Sara Schmidt Design, LLC
Representing more than 400,000 1×1 tiles, this was a labor of love for the Pratt + Larson team. Between stamping, firing, glazing, arranging, and QA, at least 12 sets of hands touched each tile produced for the murals. And of course, a mosaic of this scale is a team effort.
“I worked closely with ZGF architects and The Port of Portland to finalize the artwork for the walls, and then worked up the artwork into full-scale drawings, showing a tile-by-tile grid for Pratt and Larson’s use,” says Sara of the collaborative process. “They did a great job of not only creating the beautiful tile, but also then creating a smart system that made it easier for install. From there, ZGF and I worked again with The Port, Hoffman Skanska, and Prestige to ensure these were installed properly.”
Beautiful design, deep collaboration, and meticulous installation all contributed to the project’s overall success. Our friends at Prestige Tile & Stone worked with Sara on site to make sure every piece was correctly aligned, before fixing the mosaic to the wall.
For a design review, we were able to lay them out entirely on the floor of a huge airplane hangar, and I was able to crawl around on top of them, making final tweaks before installation.”
Sara Schmidt, EGD Consultant & Designer
Sara Schmidt Design, LLC
Taking Off with Tile
The new airport is the perfect blend of functionality and artistic expression — enhancing both the aesthetic and practical experience for travelers, and embodying Portland’s unique spirit. (We even prototyped a tile mosaic of the iconic PDX carpet!) The team at Pratt + Larson is incredibly proud to be among the 30,000 Oregonians who contributed to this landmark project.
It was really nice to be able to collaborate with a local company. The team was so accommodating and patient with us, and willing to let me noodle. We love how the murals turned out – perfectly imperfect in the most beautiful way.”
Sara Schmidt, EGD Consultant & Designer
Sara Schmidt Design, LLC
Stay tuned for more mosaic murals coming soon to PDX — all with an emphasis on Oregon’s beautiful natural landscapes and plants.
Sara Schmidt
Located in Portland, Sara is a designer who collaborates with architects and brands on a wide variety of creative projects – from buildings to product design to patterns and art.
