TWA Terminal to Hotel – Restored Airport Terminal

Experience luxury and travel the way it used to be, at the TWA Hotel and Conference Center in Queens, New York. Originally designed in 1956, the restored airport terminal now serves as the largest hotel grand lobby in the world. For the renovated glass enclosure, that once viewed the tarmac, our construction engineers analyzed the existing roof for the new building loads, provided crane and lifting plans for the curtain wall glass and developed installation sequence plans.

The McLaren Difference: Applied Ingenuity

This adaptive re-use facility at JFK airport now features shops and restaurants, a 10,000 square foot observation deck, two restored red-carpeted gateways that connect guests to separate seven-story hotel wings and a heated rooftop pool. McLaren Engineering Group’s building envelope group provided engineering support for the installation of the glass guardrails throughout the facility, accentuating the openness of the building.

For the 50,000 square foot midcentury modern underground conference center, McLaren’s building envelope team took the lead providing engineered solutions for the shutter fins and glass guardrails. The team also reviewed the effects of the fully opened and closed custom sliding glass walls, in relation to the ceilings concrete ribs, for various storefronts throughout the hotel.

The restored airport terminal won Building of the Year at the 2019 AN Best of Design Awards and the 2020 New York Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award. If you visit this stunning hotel, be sure to take a seat in the 1958 Constellation Starliner airplane that has been restored into a cocktail bar.