LAWA Celebrates Topping Out of LAX’s Midfield Satellite Concourse South

Approximately seven months after its groundbreaking, Los Angeles International Airport’s Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) South celebrated its Topping Out, a milestone that marks the placement of the project’s final structural beam. The ceremony was attended by Councilwoman Traci Park of Council District 11, members of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) executives and staff and members of the design and construction team. MSC South is an extension of the West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal and will add approximately 150,000 square feet and eight gates for narrowbody aircraft.

“Residents of Los Angeles and visitors to our amazing city are already experiencing the ongoing modernization at LAX, and with its swift project timeline and distinctive construction approach, they can expect to enjoy all of the benefits of MSC South next year,” said Councilwoman Traci Park, Council District 11. “As MSC South approaches its final stages of construction, this homage to Los Angeles’ iconic modernist legacy is set to become a source of pride for every visitor to the site.”

Utilizing a first-of-its-kind construction technique called Offsite Construction and Relocation (OCR), MSC South is being built in nine segments roughly a mile and a half away from the project’s site. Once complete, these segments will be carefully delivered and assembled in place. The OCR technique is both innovative and adaptive, saving public funds and time with a high degree of building control and supervision. With the Topping Out event hosted at MSC South’s Offsite Construction yard, guests were able to view the now complete structural frames of the segments and witness how this progressive building method is allowing LAWA and the project team to achieve the project’s rapid schedule without sacrificing design excellence or precision.

“A top priority for our Board of Airport Commissioners is ensuring that the people and businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding our airports are included in our transformation,” said Karim Webb, president, Board of Airport Commissioners. “With our projects and through programs like HireLAX, we create opportunities for individuals to build successful careers in the construction trades. I am proud that more than one-third of the 451 workers on the MSC South project are hired from the local community, helping build the future of our airport.”

Additionally, the OCR building technique supports new career pathways at LAX for local residents who are not eligible to perform work airside. This bolsters the project’s overall commitment to fostering economic opportunities through the airport’s transformation, placing a high priority on supporting local workers and businesses as well as graduates of the airport’s esteemed HireLAX Apprenticeship Readiness Program. To date, MSC South has put over $1 million in wages back into the local community with 33% percent of the entire project team of 451 workers made up of local hires, earning an average hourly rate of $76.80. Furthermore, two HireLAX graduates have advanced their careers working on the project.

“As we celebrate LAX’s MSC South’s Topping Out less than seven months after its groundbreaking, I am proud to be progressing this first-of-its-kind building technique that is setting the bar for world-class design, and not just for the aviation sector,” said Bea Hsu, Interim CEO, LAWA. “The delivery model LAWA is innovating with our project partners at MSC South is enabling an accelerated timeline, budget control and efficiency. LAWA is grateful for the partnership of Woods Bagot, W.E. O’Neil, Buro Happold, SME Steel and the entire design and construction team for their contributions.”

MSC South represents another example of LAWA’s dedication to thoughtful design. Architecturally, the concourse creates a sense of place that celebrates and pays homage to the City of Los Angeles with elements of the design strongly influenced by notable modernist homes. This is especially true of the project’s exterior brise soleil system – a solar shading feature on the concourse’s façade – that frames sightlines of the surrounding L.A. landscape.

“LAX’s MSC South represents an inspiring innovation in construction that sets a new standard for how efficient and sustainable design can drive better outcomes at airports and cities at large,” said Matt Ducharme, principal and regional design director, Woods Bagot. “Inspired by California Modernism, the experience of MSC South will be unique to Los Angeles with simple but functional design and views of the landscape beyond the airfield framed by the structure’s exterior shading system.”

The project’s brise soleil system will also enable passive cooling and energy conservation, helping the project achieve its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification goal.

With MSC South’s Topping Out milestone achieved, construction on the project’s core and shell will proceed with significant project completion planned for 2025.