Design at the Gate
The moment you step off the plane at Piedmont Triad International Airport—before you reach baggage claim, before you grab a rental car—you meet design.
If you’re one of the two million travelers who passed through PTI, you’ve seen it: monumental wood consoles carved from tree roots, cavernous onyx bowls, life-size wire figures, and the sculptural seatbelt chair. The eye wanders over pieces that feel gallery-worthy.
The installations are the work of Phillips Collection, a High Point–based family-run design company known for its bold, nature-inspired furniture and decor. For nearly two decades, Phillips Collection has been the first sign of the region’s creative spirit. What began as an experiment in airport advertising—leasing a gate and filling it with three-dimensional design instead of flat imagery—has become a signature Triad welcome occurring in both terminals.
Phillips Collection installation in the American terminal.
“The response was immediate and enormous,” recounts Phillips founder, Mark Phillips, of his brand’s arrival at the Delta terminal 20 years ago. “Where better to elevate your consideration of design than with your first steps off the plane.”
All these years later, Phillips definitely wants to impress the design buyer who comes to the Home Furnishings Capital of the World twice a year to attend the largest home furnishings trade show on the planet and discover goods to buy. But he also feels strongly that design doesn’t have to live inside showrooms and retail stores only. He believes it should also be shared with the community.
Describing the brand as being “in partnership with nature,” the pieces on display reflect that ethos where reclaimed wood is shaped into organic forms, and materials are engineered to echo the irregular beauty of stone. Dramatic and tactile, these modern artifacts are powerful enough to slow your stride.
Some glance and move on. Others stop for a closer look. A few have sat in the iconic seatbelt chair to snap a selfie before boarding. The chair, which made its Hollywood debut in The Hunger Games, has become such a recognizable symbol that our local tourism office, Visit High Point, embraced the seatbelt chair as part of its visual identity.
As the airport moves toward a future terminal modernization, Phillips Collection is excited to participate, eager to continue creating first impressions for all.
