2019 Airport Business Top 40 Under 40: Andres J Chacon AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
With 16 years of experience (over 12 in aviation related projects), Andres Chacon, deputy project manager for aviation at HNTB, has worked on projects at some of the world’s busiest airports. And while the scope and pressure of working on airport architecture may seem daunting, it’s just when Chacon says let’s get ready to work.
“The creative process is what I enjoy the most, just getting a challenge in front of me. Every single airport, every single project is different, because of scale, because of budget constraints and the clients. I just love the new challenges,” described Chacon.
Chacon is the deputy project manager on the $350 million Tampa International Airport main terminal project, including curbside expansion, central utility plant, automated people mover station and maintenance and police office building projects. His leadership on the project drove consensus on design of the world’s first airport terminal express curbsides, allowing departing passengers with only carry-on bags a direct path to TSA checkpoints and airline gates with no stops at the ticketing or check-in lobby required.
At Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Chacon’s ingenuity and creativity skills were enlisted by Delta Air Lines for a new sky club. The challenge this time being to design a 500-seat club without the 24,8000 square feet of necessary real estate. Chacon and team solved the problem by designing an elevated structure spanning the existing concourse with direct access using a vertical core.
“I like to think that I am positively impacting how users interface with their built environment,” said Chacon.
