How do you improve an airport so beloved that passengers write poems and songs about it? Consistently hailed as ‘America's Best Airport’, Portland International Airport is increasing capacity by 65 per cent to accommodate 35m passengers over the next two decades. A series of transformative projects will consolidate 80 years of expansion and renovation into one floorplate while doubling the main terminal's footprint to deliver more fun, more food and more flow. Amid this future growth and a current pandemic, learn how PDX is maintaining its uniquely curated local character cherished by both passengers and employees. This paper describes how to establish a distinct regional identity via passenger journey mapping, the integration of local, sustainable materials to create a sense of place while also reducing carbon footprint, how to use daylight, biophilia and sightlines as well as local amenities to reduce traveller stress, planning and design choices that establish an equitable passenger journey for all and engineering and construction considerations to minimise passenger disruption while keeping the airport fully operational.