Airport terminal

[2] The buildings are also characterized by a very rapid pace of redevelopment, much higher than that for structures supporting other modes of transportation, eroding the boundary between the permanent and temporary construction.

[5] The functions that are performed on the landside, like ticketing and check-in, are relatively stable, while the airside is subject to rapid technological and operational changes.

[6] Victor Marquez suggests that the boundary is not really an integral part of the airport functions, but a "socio-technical construct" that has gradually shaped the thinking of architects and planners.

Large facilities were built, however, to house the fragile and inventive airships of the time protecting them from elements[12] and industrial spies.

These buildings usually were L-shaped, with one wing dedicated to the planes and flight personnel, and the other intended for the spectators, with a grandstand and restaurants in an arrangement similar to the one used for the racetracks.

[12] The other template of a terminal was provided by the first airline, the German DELAG that featured sheds for Zeppelins combined with passenger spaces close to the centers of cities, like the railroad stations.

The "air station" of Königsberg Devau (1922) was probably the first design resembling the modern ones: Hanns Hopp, a German architect, placed a passenger building flanked by hangars into the corner of an airfield.

[17] Hounslow (now Heathrow airport) was processing the passengers through a reused aircraft hangar, and a new classical terminal was built in Croydon in 1928.

[19] The design survived for more than 60 years, highly unusual for an airport due to Sagebiel being prescient and oversizing the building beyond the scope of the original needs.

[20] The original Le Bourget design was corrected by Georges Labro [fr] in 1936–1937, with the new Modernist single-terminal layout following ideas of not-yet-unfinished Tempelhof (but without covered access to the planes) and Croydon.

[23] The system for early separation of departing passengers from their luggage (check-in desk) was introduced in the Speke Airport in Liverpool (1937–1938).

Originally, the airport terminals were secured the same way as the rail stations, with local police guarding against the common crimes, like pickpocketing.

The old floorplans of terminals were frequently inadequate (and structures not strong enough to carry the weight of the new equipment), so extensive redesign was required.

The design places limit on the number of gates, as the walkability requirement dictates the total length of the building (including the "spine" concourses) to be less than 1⁄2 mile.

This design still requires long walks for connecting passengers, but greatly reduces travel times between check-in and the aircraft.

[1] Remote pier layout consist of multiple concourses that are connected by automatic people movers located underground or overhead.

The bodies of the so-called mobile lounges can be raised to match the height of the terminal and airplane exit doors (much earlier designs used regular apron buses, for example, in the Milan's Linate Airport, but the passengers in this case had to climb up and down the airstairs).

Especially unique were its exceptionally short walking distances and lack of any central area for security, passport control, arrivals or transfer.

Checked-in passengers then entered airside via a short passage situated immediately to the side of the check-in desk, passed (for non-Schengen flights) a single passport control booth (with officers sat in the same area as check-in staff), followed by a single security lane which terminated at the gate's waiting area behind.

Pairs of gates shared the same seating area, with small kiosks for duty-free and refreshments making up the only airside commercial offerings.

Thus, other than the adjacent gate, passengers could not move around the terminal airside and there was no central waiting lounge and retail area for departures.

Many small and mid-size airports have a single, two, or three-lane one-way loop road which is used by local private vehicles and buses to drop off and pick up passengers.