Friday, October 19, 2012

How to design a Domestic Airport

Architecture 101: Design of a Domestic Airport
After visiting a number of airports around the region, I have come to realise a number of similarities in their design.

A) Grand Entrance & Big Signboard:
You need a big sign of the airport name on the front of the terminal building. With this in place, even a blur/drunk person will be able to identify that he is at the correct airport when he hops off a cab.


 B) Smaller signboards
Some of the airport buildings may be so small and lack the building structure to erect a big signboard like in (A). Therefore, they usually have smaller signboards placed near the entrance. It serves the same purpose

C) Design of control tower.
All airports need a control tower for the air traffic controllers to monitor the air traffic. A control tower is therefore needed nearby.


 Tower at Coffs Harbour Airport



  Tower at Sunshine Coast Airport
 
 
 Tower at Rockhampton Airport


Realize that their designs are rather similar - cuboid structure with an octagonal head at the top. I guess this design is probably the cheapest and most ergonomic design template.. thats why almost every airport build their tower this way.

 
 D) Curved porch for pick-ups and drop-offs
Good design for drivers. From one end, you can see right to the other end of the porch and look for a spot to park your car.



E) Restaurants and facilities in the terminal
As these airports do not have the heavy traffic volume of big international airports, their terminal buildings are usually quite small. The departure and arrival halls can be merely 20 meters away from each other. It somewhat looks like a bus terminal inside.
 


 There is a food court in Sunshine Coast airport as compared to just a coffee stand with 5 tables in Tamworth Airport.

End-to-end of Tamworth Airport terminal building is barely over 100 meters long. Within it there is the departure counter, gates, cafe, car rental booths, toilets, arrival hall, luggage belt, etc etc, all packed next to each other.


 F) Airport Logo
Apart from the big signboards mentioned in (A) and (B), these airports also have their individual logos to "brand" themselves.







 A quick glance reveals that the designers like to use bright and primary colours such as blue, yellow and green. Thick and bold brushstrokes create simple designs to feature the local specialty. For eg, Gold Coast is famous for Surfer's Paradise, thus the design of waves. Tamworth is a mountainous area thus the design of humps. Sunshine Coast for its beach and Mackay for its mining industry.


 G) Lack of Aerobridge
As the traffic is low and mostly domestic travellers, there is no need to spend money on aerobridges on the apron side.
 Gold Coast Airport - airside

I hope this fun blog entry gives everyone a rough idea of what to expect when transiting through a domestic airport on the east coast.

This also marks the end of my close-to 2 year stay in Australia. It is indeed a nice place and I will come back again in the future for a real holiday. Take care & G'Day!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Mooloolaba Beach


All-time favourite beach for the locals and tourists... Summer is here and this beach is really getting crowded

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Cycling around the neighbourhood

  Borrowed a bicycle to explore the neighbourhood...


Cycled past Twin Waters estate...

Cycled past this scenic bridge across a river...

 Cycled past some super-nice-and-expensive-looking houses by the river...

Cycled past nearby beaches..
Photo courtesy of PK

Cycled past the airport and joined a local lady plane-spotting
(Jetstar flight 792 from Melbourne, landing at Sunshine Coast airport @ 11am)

 This lady, Margret, happens to be the owner of the Sunshine Castle located nearby : )
(www.sunshinecastle.com)


Sunday, October 14, 2012

Fishing

 Tried out fishing today at a nearby fish farm.

 Fish available in the ponds: Barramundi, cod and brim

 It cost AUD30 for 3 hours rental of equipment + access to the fishing area.
 
After 3 hours under the hot sun....

No skill + No luck = No fish.

Total catch of the day = 0

Sob sob... what a waste of time.

Off to have fish & chips for dinner, to take revenge...

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Ginger Factory

The Ginger Factory - a fancy "touristy" place.

They have fancy statues of Gingerbread man...

Fancy factory tours for their ginger products manufacturing...

 Fancy train rides for kids to tour their compound


 They sell all sorts of fancy ginger products - ginger wine, ginger sweets, ginger biscuits, ginger cakes, ginger biscuits, ginger sauce, ginger perfume, ginger soap, ginger ornaments, .........   (The list can go on forever)



The only thing they dont sell is ginger itself... LOL




Monday, October 8, 2012

Brisbane's Chinatown


Brisbane's chinatown is at Fortitude Valley

 The usual stuff:
- Roads blocked off and transformed into pedestrian streets
- Street entrance decorated with lanterns

- Big stage with dragon dance / opera performance
- Flea market selling chinese ornaments and handicraft
- Asian restaurants and Yum Cha places everywhere



 The not-so-usual stuff:
- The police post nearby actually has its name in chinese!!

- An ugly statue appears out of nowhere, not sure whats its significance..
 

Friday, October 5, 2012

Familiar Road Names


I found these 2 road signs while driving to Gold Coast...
Tanah Merah and Marine Parade....   sure sounds familiar.