Airport Railings & Handrail System Top Options for Terminals

Airports host a vast amount of people each day. From employees to travelers to family and friends dropping off and picking up, airport design is responsible for supporting a wide range of ages and abilities and must, therefore, take up safety as a high priority. Airport railings shoulder much of the safety responsibility as they aid in support and traffic flow.

Modern airport railings do more than provide support and safety. They also act as an aesthetic design element. Glass railings create the opportunity to add safety while enhancing the airport’s aesthetic and maintaining lines of sight for all of the people coming and going.

Not all airport railings are created equal, however. Choosing one that offers the safety passengers need with superior design aesthetics is a way to ensure that passengers, employees, and everyone in-between has a safe trip through the airport.

San Diego International Airport Consolidated Car Rental Facility

Image Source

When the San Diego International Airport Consolidated Car Rental Facility was completed in 2016, it was the largest car rental center on the West Coast. The two-million-square-foot building has space for 19 rental car companies and over 5,000 cars. The goal of the facility was to better the logistics of getting a rental car and increase sustainability by consolidating the airport's rental car market which had been scattered across different buildings on both public and private property and required the use of 81 shuttle buses. The new facility reduced the number of needed buses to 16.

Consolidating the airport’s car rental operation meant creating a facility that could handle large numbers of people moving through the space daily, so safety was also a top priority. In fact, Sundt, the construction company responsible for the project, boasts a Safety by Choice program that focuses on a people-based approach that emphasizes safety choices.

Image Source

To increase the level of safety at the Consolidated Car Rental Center, VIVA railings were installed along walkways and on staircases in order to increase support and visibility throughout the facility. The BLADE® Glass Railing System features an ultra-contemporary design with minimum obstruction to the line of sight. The Consolidated Car Rental Center opted for the clear glass in-fill panels that, with the help of the expertly crafted system, appear to be suspended in air, though VIVA also offers colored, patterned, and frosted glass options.

Image Source

Image Source

The glass panels allow travelers to easily view public art on display in the facility, including “Swarm,” an art installation created with 801 Hyundai Elantra car tail lights and “Hive” created with 2,200 Ford F-150 side-view mirrors. The glass infill of the BLADE® system creates a nearly unobstructed view of the art installations and the rest of the facility.

Image Source

Meacham International Airport

Image Source

The design of Meacham International Airport located just north of Ft. Worth, Texas used glass to its advantage throughout the project. Beginning with the exterior glass which uses smart energy-saving glass that adjusts with the sunlight to control the buildings temperature while still allowing natural light, the theme of unobstructed views and glass is carried indoors and seen in the building’s use of the VIEW Glass Railing System.

Image Source

The VIEW system is a Button Structural Glass Balustrade Railing System design to provide the clearest view imaginable. The fascia mounted glass is secured with fixed point holders in stainless steel which allows the panels to create a continuous line that isn’t broken by support bars. The top bar of the panels is continuous and acts as a guard for walkways and balconies, and handrails are added to stairways to ensure that the railings meet commercial building codes and the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards.

Image Source

The use of VIVA railings helps the project earn LEED credits for sustainable construction and materials. Our railings are LEED Green Certified and contain a minimum of 65% pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content and a minimum of 25% post-consumer recycled content.

Due to the building’s focus on sustainability and the renovation’s focus on addressing deficiencies that included ADA accessibility, Fort Worth and the architecture firm Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford received the American Institute of Architects (AIA)-Fort Worth Chapter’s Excellence in Sustainable Development Award for this project.

Image Source

Image Source

Image Source

VIVA Railings Are the Ideal Solution for Airport Railings

With the amount of passengers and staff that an airport sees in a day, not to mention friends and family members, the safety and sustainability needs of an airport are crucial.

VIVA Railings has sustainable solutions that meet commercial building codes and ADA standards and contribute to the aesthetics of the airport design.

Contact the experts at VIVA Railings today to discuss the needs of your project and see our innovative solutions!