SFO Terminal 2 ready for takeoff TRANSPORTATION Sleek SFO remodel turns 1954 building into site of sustainability, elegance

Virgin America celebrated the moving their home to Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport with a "Fly into the Future" flight which flew alongside Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnight Two and SpaceShip Two, over the Golden Gate Building, Wednesday April 6, 2011, in San Francisco, Calif. less Virgin America celebrated the moving their home to Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport with a "Fly into the Future" flight which flew alongside Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnight Two and SpaceShip Two, ... more Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close SFO Terminal 2 ready for takeoff 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

(04-06) 21:39 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The first plane to unload at San Francisco International Airport's sleekly remodeled Terminal 2 had stenciled on its fuselage: "My other ride is a spaceship."

This is the future of San Francisco air travel.

Virgin America Flight VX2001 and its star-studded passenger list christened the rebirth of San Francisco's vintage 1954 terminal Wednesday. The building underwent a $383 million upgrade designed to make it a model of sustainable development and relaxing travel.

Those are two concepts not often associated with U.S. airports, with their rigorous security screenings, drab waiting areas and overpriced chain food.

"We want to return the romance to travel, make it less stressful," airport spokesman Michael McCarron said. "This is an elegant place."

The refurbished terminal, which will open to commercial flights next Thursday, has waiting areas with white leather sofas, red banquettes and sci-fi-reminiscent "egg" chairs.

Work tables have a dozen power outlets each for travelers' laptops or other portable electronics, which can also tap into free Wi-Fi. One children's play area features wooden xylophones; another, a glass-enclosed case of mechanical butterflies that "fly" by turning a crank, then flutter back down.

Post-security chill spot

There are tiers of windows, soaring white ceilings and eye-catching art, like a sunset-colored net suspended below skylights in the "recompose" area of ottomans just after the security checkpoints.

"I have two metal knees and a metal shoulder, so I have to strip practically half-naked to get through those things," architect Arthur Gensler said of airport checkpoints.

"We tried to create a place where people, before they get to the shops or get to the restroom, they can be comfortable," said Gensler, who began designing the new terminal in 2008.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee likened the result to a luxury hotel.

"We immediately felt we had walked into a five-star hotel lobby," Lee said during Wednesday's unveiling of the 640,000-square-foot terminal for the news media. "It's been done right."

The project, completed on time and under budget, aims to become the U.S. Green Building Council's first LEED gold-certified terminal.

Eco-friendly

The building's toilets use reclaimed water. It has energy-efficient fixtures and handy bins for composting, recycling and trash. Carpet and flooring were made from recycled material.

About 75 percent of the restaurants are local, with an emphasis on locally sourced food.

"People don't want to see those chain, repetitive, boring types of approaches," Lee said. "They want to see locally grown, organic companies."

Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld said simply: "This is the future of airports."

It's also the past. About 90 percent of the original building content was recycled. Besides housing Virgin America, the terminal will also hold American Airlines, which had used the original 1954 building before it closed in 2000 with the opening of the new international terminal.

"We feel as if we're coming back home again," said Timothy Ahern, an American Airlines vice president. The airline had a vintage dual-prop DC-3 on display for the occasion. Virgin Group founder Richard Branson was not to be outdone.

Making an entrance

Branson landed at the new terminal in an Airbus A320 with about 100 people onboard, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin, supermodel Rachel Hunter and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who initiated the terminal project when he was mayor as a means to boost San Francisco as a modern transportation hub.

The plane touched down on a parallel runaway alongside Virgin Galactic's conjoined WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, which together make up a launch system for commercial suborbital space flights. The crafts had rendezvoused with the A320 above the Pacific Ocean near Point Reyes - flying just 50 feet apart as journalists, well-heeled donors to Virgin Group's nonprofit that supports science and engineering education, and about a dozen schoolchildren marveled.

Branson beamed as he took over the public address system inside the plane shortly after touchdown.

"I don't know if a spaceship has ever landed at a commercial airport," Branson said, "so that was historic in its own right."