Jacob Hashimoto
Nashville International Airport (BNA) has unveiled the new Grand Lobby in the completely renovated and reimagined 200,000-square-foot space in the center of the terminal, including 24 TSA security screening lanes and multimedia digital and visual art. A core component of the BNA Visionplan, the Grand Lobby officially opened to the public on the morning of January 24, marking the return to a single terminal at Nashville International Airport.
BNA Vision is Nashville International Airport’s bold growth and expansion plan to provide world-class facilities for business and leisure travelers in Tennessee and surrounding states.
“Since the launch of BNA Vision in 2017, we’ve been hard at work building and renovating Nashville International Airport to meet the travel demands of Tennessee today and into the future,” said Doug Kreulen, president/CEO of Nashville International Airport. “The new Grand Lobby dramatically changes the look, feel, and energy of the airport. We’ve more than doubled our security screening capacity to handle the region’s growth and popularity as a destination. With large-scale art installations, high-definition video displays, new restaurants, retail spaces, and floor-to-ceiling windows, it will be clear as soon as you step foot into BNA that Nashville is home to a world-class airport.”
BNA’s Grand Lobby features a sweeping roof canopy with an oculus skylight reminiscent of an acoustic guitar when viewed from above. It also includes a pedestrian bridge that connects to the Grand Plaza, Terminal Parking Garage, and our future hotel. Once inside, travelers will be greeted with an immersive multimedia showcase through two enormous 12K resolution screens. Gentilhomme Studio developed the screens and content with the guiding mantra of ‘Nashville Awaits Your Return.’
The lobby also prominently features a five-story sculpture from artist Jacob Hashimoto called ‘The Unscalable Ramparts of Time,’ an installation crafted with 8,000 washi paper kites suspended from fiberglass rods. Each side wall of the lobby showcases a 105-ft. hanging garden by Garden on the Wall that portray the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge through the use of moss, hydrangea, ferns and other flora found natively in Tennessee. The master architect for BNA Visionis Corgan, and the design-build team for the Grand Lobby was Hensel Phelps and Fentress Architects.
Key BNA Vision project timelines:
on-site Hilton Hotel and terminal garage, late 2023
Satellite Concourse, late 2023
International Arrivals Facility, fall 2023
Concourse D and Terminal Wings expansion, summer 2020
Terminal garage 1, summer 2020
Terminal garage 2, December 2018
Interim International Arrivals Building, spring 2018
“The opening of the new on-airport Hilton Hotel and International Arrivals Facility later this year will mark the completion of our original BNA Vision plan, but we’re already looking beyond that given Nashville and Middle Tennessee’s unprecedented growth,” Kreulen said. “The next phase, which we’re calling New Horizon, is an additional $1.4 billion plan phased out over the next six years with completion in late 2028. That work is underway now, and we can’t wait to share our progress over the next few years.”