MassDOT Statewide Airport Master Plan and Design

In 2013, we began a year-long master planning project to help the MassDOT Aeronautics Department develop a program to improve the quality of the State’s General Aviation system. The department had previously conducted an in-depth study of its public-use airports, which found that many lacked sufficient administrative facilities. Since these airports serve as gateways for tourism and as economic drivers in their respective communities, MassDOT felt the need to invest in those facilities, and to develop a standard of care which the general Aviation community could come to rely on at their Massachusetts Airports.

Over the course of the project, we visited each airport within the program, studied their current business models, and learned of their plans for the future. With a focus on sustainability and flexibility, we developed a system of prototypes able to address the system’s common issues while simultaneously allowing each airport to adapt the layout to best suit its functional needs. The prototypes also anticipated the buildings’ exterior expressions to reflect the character of the town which supports it, integrating the building into the town’s existing network of municipal resources.

The first three of thirteen administration buildings to be designed and built under MassDOT’s Strategic Master Plan for Municipal Airports have recently completed construction, these new buildings at Beverly, Fitchburg, and Mansfield Airports significantly upgrade the facilities at each respective location.