Near the start of this thread, Hartington put the heart of the matter rather nicely:
As with most BAA terminals I felt the shopping had been allowed to overtake the basic reason for the existence of the terminal and, as time went on and more passengers went through the place and they built more shops so the congestion got worse.
Let me nail my colours to the wall from the start – I reckon there is room for both the basic terminal (and I’ve designed a couple of those, and I like the principle) and the commercial style (which I personally don’t like but which probably helps pay for the new terminals). Yes, some airports have become frankly unpleasant to walk around due to over-emphasis on shopping (Frankfurt), but some have become better places to spend time with better restaurants, more space, and more attractive surroundings (Dubai, but obviously not Stansted).
This so-called ‘commercial airport terminal’ style comes from some of the work by Rigas Doganis in his 1992 book: The Airport Business (still widely available). I suspect that BAA picked up a lot of their ideas from there (and probably Doganis picked up ideas from BAA).
To give the reason behind these commercial terminals, in Doganis’ chapter 7, talking about maximising concession revenue, he says [my bold type for emphasis]
In order for an airport to maximize its revenue from concession fees, the turnover of the various concessions must be maximized and the airport's 'take' or share of that revenue must be as high as is reasonably possible and commercially sound. Total sales by concessionaires depend on three factors. First, the total traffic handled by an airport and, in so far as passengers are the single largest source of sales by concessionaires, the characteristics of its passenger traffic. Second, the total amount of space allocated to those concessionaires operating shops, catering outlets, services and so on and the location of that space within the terminal building. Third, the skill of the concessionaires themselves in generating sales.
To what extent can an airport authority influence any of these factors? Through its marketing efforts and its expenditure on runways, terminals and other facilities an airport may have some influence on its total traffic levels or the composition of that traffic. However, in most cases its influence is likely to be indirect and fairly marginal since traffic generation is a function of both underlying demand, which is itself dependent on various exogenous economic variables, and supply features, which are determined by the airlines. Airports must try to push up their traffic by encouraging the opening of new routes, but their ability to do so is likely to be limited.
When it comes to space allocated to concessionary activities, airport authorities can have a much greater impact in the medium or long term if allowed to do so. In other-words, a commercially oriented airport will make adequate and sensible provision, in its master plans and development programmes, to meet the future needs of the different market segments it hopes to target with its concessions. In the short term, an airport authority may be limited by the space and airport layout that was planned some years previously and this may be inadequate for current commercial activities. Skill and the creative redesign of space is then needed in the short term to try to improve the allocation of space available for such activities until investment in new buildings or facilities can be financially justified. Finally, airport authorities cannot directly influence the skill of their concessionaires. However, they can place a high priority on concessionaires' skills and experience when choosing them.
For benlapworth as a student, I commend the book to you, and it should be found in the Uni library. For others interested in airport/airline technology, it is an excellent read (like all of Doganis’s books). He has got some interesting drawings showing passenger flows and how the positioning of shops can increase the percentage of passengers buying goods. Compelling stuff for the accountants that infest many airports today
However my interest is still in the basic terminals, and what Capot describes above is of great interest. That really sounds like a sensible approach, especially in the economic times we are now in. That works out to GBP 643 per sq.m. [$A1540 for the antipodeans], which is impressive and clearly the product of intelligent design. Cabot - if you have any more details, could you PM me please: I'm really interested in this design.