The actual design phase is probably the simplest of the entire development process. By the time the design phase is reached, the airport should have a firm grasp of the potential users and uses, the current and future demand estimates, the available resources, and development constraints. Therefore, the design phase is a creative process of harnessing ideas to a design. This does not imply the design phase is unimportant or does not require a high level of skill. Instead, it recognizes the time-consuming and labor-intensive effort needed to gather the correct information before design can be considered.
An evolving strategy is the common or shared use cargo facility. Although the concept is not new, it has gained popularity due to the significant cost savings to carriers. The concept recognizes that a great deal of warehouse space within a cargo facility is utilized during limited periods throughout the day and evening. The remainder of the time the space is idle. Specifically, it is the space used to build or breakdown pallets/containers and where cargo moves through the facility versus actual storage areas.
If this space is used by multiple carriers with proper scheduling, it increases the productivity of the space and reduces costs for all concerned. Staff, scales, freight equipment, loading docks, and a host of other assets can be kept productive for more hours of each day. Individual carriers can reduce total space dedicated to them through this arrangement.
One of the driving factors in the building design is the developer's desire to achieve economies of scale through the issue of repetitive modules. The tendency for tenant turnover, as well as tenant operational characteristics, requires buildings to be flexible in terms of configuration. At one time, the facilities acted more as warehouses than clearing depots and there was a strong desire by the tenants to store shipments in pallet racks. In these instances, a reasonably high, clear ceiling height was desired-on the order to 20-30 feet.