In a move that no one saw coming, Donald Loria has been tapped to design the new frequent flyer lounge at Nosara Airport.

Nosara Lately broke the news last month that KLM will be extending the runway approximately 800 feet in order to accommodate their new nonstop service between Nosara and Amsterdam. The Nosara airport – though beloved by locals for its breezy check-in and concrete benches – is clearly undergunned for an Airbus 330.

Few people know, however, that the Nosara Airport was Donald Loria’s first major design achievement in Guanacaste, completed when Loria was just 23 years old. “People think the breezy check-in, the flowing spaces, the concrete minimalism are just an accident. They aren’t,” said Mexican design legend José Orozco Sequeira. “Loria showed us all what an airport can be.”

Fast forward forty-odd years, and the genius of Loria is on clear display in the proposed design. Soaring glass windows, invisible supports, and a facade that will reflect the planned windmills in Pelada. Nosara Lately can confirm that the design says Prendas Loria – and it says so with verve and style.

Local tuk-tuk driver Adolfo Brenes Salazar studied the planned drawings and pronounced himself satisfied. “They left the old building alone. I like that.”