What we want from an airport is generally pretty straightforward. Airports get good reviews when they make it relatively easy for travelers to check in for flights, travel through security, and otherwise get where they need to be. Waiting in at least some comfort is also desirable in airports. The Rotterdam airport is a place that works because it efficiently and effectively and pleasantly transitions travelers from its entrance to their (eventually) waiting airplanes.
The design of the Rotterdam airport features lots of straight lines—on walls, floors, and furniture, for example—and those straight lines are linked metaphorically in our minds to efficiency, which is always a desirable association in a transit hub. The Rotterdam airport gets high marks for the way it communicates nonverbally, and symbolically, to users.
The airport provides people waiting with a range of seating options—at tables and on upholstered furniture—and environmental control, which ensues when we can choose how to spend our time in a space, is great for our psychological wellbeing—as well as our professional performance. Task lights on tables provide even more environmental control to travelers.
One of the reasons that the design of the Rotterdam airport really works, psychologically, is the wealth of natural materials and light within its walls. Massive windows allow natural light to flood the space, which is great for travellers’ moods—when we’re in a good mood we are better at problem solving, creative thinking, and getting along with others, for example. The space features wood grain on various surfaces and wood grain has been shown to be an effective stress-buster, which is always handy in a place where tension-inducing delays are inevitable. Plants, another stress-reducer, also dot the terminal.
The acoustic environment is pleasant at the Rotterdam airport, even though there are many hard surfaces, because televisions and other sorts of monitors don’t fill the terminal with an endless and nearly meaningless audio cacophony.
The design of the Rotterdam airport makes it a comfortable place for travelers to spend time and it is certainly a welcome oasis for many people on hectic journeys across Europe.
To learn more about research related to the specific design elements mentioned above, use the index at the top of this page.