Nike | Air Hangar

Nike Inc.

Hillsboro, Oregon

2002

40,000 sq ft

Privately owned by the sports and apparel giant, the Nike Air Hangar houses three Gulfstream G5 jets for the company’s executive business travel. In addition to the requisite support spaces for flight planning and airplane maintenance, the building provides amenities for travelers and pilots such as a waiting lounge, exercise facilities, executive suites, and a gourmet kitchen, as well as space for off-campus meetings. The design utilizes simple massing, transparent volumes, and shifting layers of gleaming metal to elevate a mundane industrial structure to a building worthy of Nike’s heritage for design aesthetics.

With meticulously maintained, gleaming white epoxy floors and colorful banners that celebrate sponsored athletes, the interior spaces are designed to support the functional requirements for maintaining planes. A generous lobby with expansive views to the airfield and glimpses into the hangar bay itself greets visitors. Echoing amenities found on the main campus, the program includes a weight and workout room, showers, and locker facilities necessary for the fitness-driven company, as well as a kitchen capable of preparing fully catered meals. The design overcame several technical challenges relevant to the fire suppression systems, lighting, and height restrictions as dictated by the FAA.