YYC Domestic Terminal Redevelopment

A partnership rooted in logistics grows into a lasting collaboration, reshaping Calgary’s gateway to the world. What began as a single corridor for moving luggage quietly set the stage for one of the most transformative partnerships in YYC Calgary International Airport’s history.

Fifteen years ago, Calgary’s airport was facing a challenge shared by many growing cities—its infrastructure was at capacity, but its ambition and its passenger traffic kept climbing. In 2011, we were brought in to solve a specific problem: designing a corridor to connect baggage-handling systems between the existing terminal and a new international one.

In the process of solving that tightly scoped challenge, something unexpected happened. A collaborative rhythm emerged. Trust was built. And our role at the airport began to expand.

Soon, we were designing a compact transit system to move people, just as we had first moved their bags. Then came larger, more complex undertakings: reworking the domestic terminal’s check-in and screening areas, relocating gates, reorganizing the baggage claim, and eventually renovating parts of the brand-new international terminal to better meet the needs of its users.

Throughout it all, our priority was clear—keep people moving. Every detail was shaped around efficiency, clarity, and care. And despite the complexity of construction in an active airport, we delivered all of this without causing a single cancelled flight.

Today, Calgary’s airport handles nearly 50% more passengers than it did when our work together began. It’s become a more welcoming, efficient, and responsive place because of the deep collaboration that took root in that first corridor.

And it wasn’t just the Airport Authority that saw the value of this relationship. Airlines like WestJet and Air Canada, government agencies like the CBSA and US Customs and Border Protection, and hospitality providers like HMSHost also brought us into their spaces, not only at YYC but at airports across the country.

Our work at Calgary International Airport is about more than buildings or systems. It’s about stewarding movement. It’s about designing for connection. And most of all, it’s about the long-term partnerships that make it possible for millions of people to keep going smoothly, safely, and with a sense of place that welcomes them home or sends them off well.