Nine million man- hours spent perfecting facility
LAYOUT GIVES IMPRESSION OF SPACE AT TERMINAL
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MORE than nine million man-hours have been worked in the construction of the new second terminal at Dublin Airport and judging by the attention to detail, it's easy to see how.
From the ' spine of light' running through its centre - designed to lead passengers to the departures gates - to the crisp, contemporary design, T2 is the state-of-the-art building modern day Ireland deserves.
400 individual toilets are located in the 75,000 sqm terminal and 25,000 sqm pier, which are served by 62 lifts, 34 escalators and over 2,000 wayfinding and emergency signs.
' The footprint of T2 is the exact same footprint of T1,' the DAA's Siobhan Moore said. ' It's laid out differently, giving the impression that it's bigger.
' We've included new way-finding signage introduced to T1 a year ago, which is simple and not confusing. We have also done signs with an estimate of a guide for how long passengers have to get to each gate, giving very generous times.
' Pier D for example is 250m. The new Pier E is almost double that at 450m. People criticise the airport for having long walking distances, particularly where the gates are, but airlines want to park up to the building, thereby minimising the amount of bussing that takes place.'
Blue is a recurring theme throughout the building with two coloured lift shafts running from the check-in area through the centre and each of the toilet and baby changing units also coloured in blue. A stream of natural light flooding down from above and simple touches, such as a variance in floor colouring where the gradient changes, add to the building's character.
A total of 95,000 cubic metres of concrete have been used on the terminal, the pier and adjacent airfield stands, along with 13,700 tonnes of steel, 90% of which was recycled, while the building houses 6km of baggage belts and chutes, 1,500 internal doors and 20,000 light fittings and bulbs.
' There isn't anything that's over-the-top in terms of any of the materials used,' Ms Moore added. ' It's clean, it's functional, it looks well.
' I'm here 26 years. I've been here when there were two million passengers, I've seen the airport change hugely, I've seen the new runway come in, which is 20 years old now.
' I've seen Pier C terminal extension, Pier D, the multi-storey car park system being built, the extension to Terminal 1 and we have this now. The whole airport campus has changed beyond belief in 25 years.'
- Robin KIELY
