b'HANGARSOSH29with the sections for aircraft tails nested in theIn addition to designing the hangar buildings and taxi lanes, middle, which reduces the overall length of Westwood also designed associated stormwater control the building.infrastructure, including a detention pond. The hangars interlock like Tetris blocks, Schell remarks. Built for Comfort When OSH surveyed existing and potential tenants about desired Using this method, the airport was able tohangar amenities, heat was a frequent response. Bear in mind, add 20 hangars on roughly the same footprintAARON STEWART Wisconsin winters can be very cold. that used to hold only five. The design also decreased construction costs and reduced the length of taxi lanesThe airport consequently outfitted the hangars with gas-fired that were needed, notes Aaron Stewart, director of aviation atheaters from Detroit Radiant Products Co. The infrared units, Westwood. installed by Engebos Heating and Cooling LLC, hang from the ceiling at the rear of the hangars. Each hangar has its own gas The two hangar buildings stand parallel to each other, withmeter, so tenants only get charged for the natural gas they use. bi-fold doors on both sides of each building. Theres a taxi lane between the two buildings and their aprons, plus two moreoneIts an unusual feature in hangars, says Stewart. Historically, on the opposite side of each buildingso planes also can enter andsome units were built with heaters included and some without leave from those sides of the structures. The taxi lanes are aboutbecause not everyone might want a heated space. 300 feet long. Designers used a dead space in one of the buildings to add Each hangar has about 1,000 square feet of spaceenough foranother highly requested amenity: a public restroom. a typical single- or light twin-engine piston airplaneand measuresExisting tenants were given priority access to the new hangars, 41 feet, 7 inches at the widest point and about 33 feet from thefollowed by aircraft operators on the waiting list.front bi-fold doors to the rear of the unit.Because the hangars are literally shaped like the letter T, theyEfficient Constructiondont entirely fill the rectangular-shaped buildings. That left deadTo make room for the new hangar buildings, crews demolished five spaces in two corners of each building, behind the wing sections ofold hangars and a 160,000-square-foot asphalt apron that was the end hangars. Instead of letting the valuable space go to waste,beyond repair.Westwood converted three of those areas into storage spaces forWestwood designed the slab-on-grade building foundations. operations and maintenance supplies such as paint, line-paintingThe metal buildings were pre-engineered by Erect-A-Tube Inc. machines and small snow-removal and mowing equipment. and constructed by Coxsee Builders LLC using a post-and-beam AirportImprovement.comSeptember 2025'