Speaker Biograghy: John qualified as an architect before jumping ship and retraining as a town planner at Edinburgh Council. In 2007 he moved to London to seek his fortune, working as a project manager delivering new public spaces in the city's financial centre. While paving the streets with granite, not gold, John received what he assumed was a junk mail message to his Facebook account enquiring whether he would be interested in a role at Heathrow Airport. Curiosity got the better of him and he eventually opened the job description. Rather than downloading a virus, this resulted in a position at Heathrow, first as a Design Manager on the refurbishment of Terminal 4 and construction of the new Terminal 2, and then as a Commercial Manager on Terminal 2. John moved to Aberdeen in April 2014 to lead the airport's transformation, which will completely redevelop the terminal over four years.


Day 2 - 11 March
Session: Airport Design, Planning & Development

11:30 - 11:55 - Transformation or bust – the rewards and challenges of record growth
Synopsis: Aberdeen International Airport has benefited from phenomenal growth in recent years. It is at the centre of the North Sea oil industry and the most prosperous UK region outside southeast England, and 60% of the airport users are business travellers. Two record years of passenger growth have seen the airport’s passenger numbers climb towards four million – all of whom pass through a terminal that has not been significantly modified since it opened in 1978. This presentation will consider the challenges of transforming an existing terminal while maintaining the live operation, and how best to maximise design quality with scarce funding.

Audience will learn:

• How a client team with little history of delivering major projects can organise itself to deliver cross-business benefits
• High-quality design does not necessarily require deep pockets and star architects
• Complex phasing and sub-phasing are required to deliver the project without compromising the operational environment
• Communication between senior leadership and project team to facilitate a shared vision
• The importance of getting the basics right at the outset