The entrance area of the new Concourse C at Seattle International Airport features restaurants on the lower level, and the new prayer and meditation room on the top floor.
Photos by: Steve Wilhelm

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in June opened its second prayer and meditation room, this one featuring a secluded alcove for Buddhist meditators.

The new prayer and meditation room is on the third floor of the airport’s new $400 million C Concourse structure, very close to the airport’s central food court. This means the new room will be far more accessible for travelers than the first of the new prayer and meditation rooms, which is located on the lower level beneath the A Concourse, near the rail connection.

The C Concourse prayer and meditation room is the result of nine years of discussion and collaboration between a group of interfaith leaders, and port officials. The interfaith group has included representatives from Northwest Dharma Association, The Muslim Association of Puget Sound, The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Over these years the intent was to create prayer and meditation spaces that would serve everyone, and offend nobody. The new C Concourse prayer and meditation room is successful in both these goals.

Despite its proximity to the bustle of the airport, the prayer and meditation room is quiet once the automatic door closes. Next door is a view deck, with wide views across the airport runways.

The room itself is circular with vertical wood facing, with gentle circular lighting above.

“The form feels almost elemental,” said Matt Ducharme, principal design director of Woods Bagot architects, which worked on the project. “It’s almost another world…very calm and intimate.”

The meditation alcove is set off to one side of the circular room, so that a meditator will essentially have the meditation space to themselves. The alcove is designed so that a meditator can sit cross-legged, with a modest back support, or with feet on the floor. The original prayer room under the A Concourse is even more sequestered, with three more such meditation alcoves.

The C Concourse room also features a kneeling prayer area, where people such as Christians can pray while facing the wall. For Muslims the room features a foot-washing area, and also a brass inlay in the rug, pointing toward Mecca for the mandatory five daily prayer times of devout Muslims.

“This space is an intentional welcome for all travelers through this airport,” said Julie Collins, airport director of customer experience. “This kind of space ensures that all types of visitors have a space where they can have their stress released, and be recharged and renewed.”

Generally called Sea-Tac, the airport is the 11th busiest airport in the United States, with nearly 53,000 passengers in 2025. With its constrained footprint, the airport handles more people per acre than any other in North America.

Plans for a third prayer and meditation room are underway, this one to be out at the South Satellite, where most international flights arrive and depart. The third room will be built in space opened up by creation of the nearby International Arrivals Facility.

These new prayer and meditation rooms replace the earlier one, which was closed in 2015 after changes in security meant that it was outside the secured area.

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