The Design Solution works on St Petersburg airport terminal

ICA, contractor of consortium Northern Capital Gateway, appointed the consultancy in July 2011, through a tender process.

Grimshaw Architects has designed the new terminal, which is currently under construction and expected to open next year. The executive architect is SFMM.

The masterplan will link the new terminal to the old one – which is being converted to an airside-only building for domestic passengers, with passenger processing handled inside the new terminal.

‘The context is absolutely fascinating, our planning having to respond appropriately to a state-of-the-art terminal and a classic 1950s existing building, both of which have strong architectural identities,’ says The Design Solution project director Graeme Johns.

Johns says an emphasis has been placed on passenger spend in the airside international departures zone.

This has been designed ‘to maximise the opportunities to hold passengers within the retail and drive them through a classic walk-through duty free shop scenario prior to entering the departures lounge,’ says Johns.

The retail design is ‘a classic piece of airside planning’ he adds, ‘with a walk-through duty free store, followed by airside holding lounges, specialist retailers around the holding areas and a large mezzanine floor for food and beverages.’