Commercial Architecture July 2018 - 12

FEATURE

airports
Bergen Airport is the second busiest airport in Norway. In 2017, the airport
was upgraded with a new passenger-terminal building and an improved
taxiway system. The airport now has the capacity to serve 7.5-million passengers/year. In addition to the new terminal, Nordic-Office of Architecture was responsible for the masterplan on airside and landside, as well
as auxiliary buildings. Photo: Knut Ramstad, Nordic - Office of Architecture

rewarding the use of the preferred means of transport to
the airport. Using public transport will give you shorter
walking distance. In most cases this will mean that rail/
light rail connections will give you the shortest walking
distances, followed by buses and taxis. Finally, parking
for private cars is moved further from the terminal. Taxi
depots are a short way off, and an automatic system
sends cars in as needed rather than having a lot of taxis
clogging up the forecourt at all times," Andersen explained.
Technology is extending its reach to those private
cars as well. "The parking systems are moving toward
full automation where your car gets registered upon entering, and you are billed for the time spent upon exiting
the parking structure without having to go to a machine
and pay," Andersen related.
Security procedures at airports have increased in
scope and may not have been accommodated in the
original design, making for a patchwork layout that is
inefficient and frustrating for travelers. Andersen advocates "loose-fit architecture, where there is room for
change. There is a lot we don't know [about the future of
security], but solutions are likely to take up more space,
and so we strive to provide more room than is currently
necessary to avoid the need for expanding and adding
on solutions, but rather repurposing the areas that are
available."
"Keeping things open and inviting, with good ceiling
heights, and in general making people feel relaxed is
very important, and it also makes surveillance easier,"
Andersen added.
Environmental factors, just as much as technology
and security, are important to today's airport. "These
are issues we think a lot about in designing airports and
a reason Oslo International Airport was the first airport
in the world to achieve a BREEAM (Building Research
Establishment Environmental Assessment Method,
Watford, UK, breeam.com) Excellent rating," Andersen
commented.
At Oslo, "we have a snow depot where the snow
cleared from the runways in winter is stored to cool
down the airport in summer, as well as heat regain from
ventilation and wastewater. There are geothermal wells,
and we even have a system that pulls heat from municipal wastewater," he said.
"At Bergen Airport we have a double-glass façade
which helps keep in the heat in winter, but can easily be

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

JULY 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Architecture July 2018