coming to you live from the open house at SFO’s soon-to-be-opened Terminal 3E, this mostly-United flyer can say with absolute certainty that it will be a welcome upgrade from the existing Boarding Area F. the look, while not as open and airy (though again, so much better than the existing) is very reminiscent of Terminal 2, which was also designed by Gensler, especially in terms of furniture (egg chairs!). there are great dining options, much better seating areas with a variety of groupings, lots of plugs everywhere, and more natural (and natural-looking) light. i’m interested to see how well it performs with a widebody passenger load at a gate, though, since it seems like the areas are not that big. (also, the bathrooms are most definitely an upgrade, though i didn’t take pictures in there for what i hope are obvious reasons!)
finally, a terminal i’m excited to fly out of!
They still have some work to do at the check-in counters. (This was taken through a break in the curtains.)
What it would look like if you were to walk in from the existing boarding area (F). There is a United customer service counter under those thee displays on the right. Further down the concourse are a Chase ATM, a Best Buy kiosk, and a yoga room, as well as new retail and dining outlets.
There’s a pretty cool interactive exhibit to while away your waiting time.
Looking down the concourse
Gate 61
Looking the other way (and where I’m sitting now)
Did I mention egg chairs?
Lots of great public art (these spin, supposedly in response to people passing by)
What would a terminal here be without an exhibit by the always-wonderful SFO Museum?
The end of the concourse has been temporarily transformed into a performance space. I love that the end is all glass.
Gate 63
Looking back from the end of the concourse
The Gensler open house area — one of those is mine.
A closer look at the far end
and like any open house, SO MUCH SWAG. (i got a USB thingamajiggy that i forgot to include, too.)
Ok I'm done. I didn't even stop for all the swag. Lol. #sfot3e pic.twitter.com/Vkf8eZBGud
— Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) January 25, 2014
Neat! I didn’t stop for the swag. I like how the store options will complement already existing shops at T3.
http://www.flysfo.com/t3e-opening/restaurants-shops
The TSA Pre line at ~ 1pm was so short, I wished I was going somewhere. T3E shares the security line with T3 according to thebat-sf.
Interestingly, there seemed to be reduced amount of advertising space on the concourse walls due to how streamlined and modern it was. Maybe they’ll put some in along the T3-T3E corridor?
You know how you can buy cameras at NRT and phones in SIN? Why oh why does Westfield Valley Fair Mall rate not only high street designers, but also Apple, Microsoft, HTC, and Samsung stores/showcases and SFO basically sticks visitors with TechShowcase which seems even less interesting to browse than Radio Shack? A Tesla would totally fit in the terminal, too, so people who are visiting can get a look-see (I’ve heard that they’re not as common outside the Bay Area)
I wonder if they are relocating the premier lobby from the other end of T3? But I totally agree that they could have some more intriguing retail options!