(Aurora hides behind the new Ocean terminal Aug 09)
On the 2nd of August I visited Southampton’s new Ocean Terminal. Firstly let me say that I welcome more terminals and more ships to the UK coast with open arms. However the Terminal that once held the name of Southampton’s ‘Ocean Terminal’ was an Art Deco masterpiece.
The original ‘Ocean Terminal’ was built in 1950 and designed to compliment the decor of the great Ocean Liners of the period, such as the Queen Mary. There were two floors: the ground floor had space to accommodate the ships stores and freight. The upper level accommodated two sumptuous reception halls for the public. They boasted island settees, a refreshment buffet, an international telephone bay, a flower shop, a bank, a railway booking office, a writing room and a press room. The decor comprised of eight types of wood. There was also a railway platform to cater for the ‘Boat Trains’ from London bringing passengers to the liners. Unfortunately this splendid building was demolished in 1983, to make way for a car park.
Southampton’s new £19 million ‘Ocean Terminal’ handled its first ship, P&O’s Oceana on the 9th of May 2009. Now I don’t doubt that the building is very spacious and practical. It appears to have plenty of car parking space, but no longer a train station. (This is now several miles away).
Internally it resembles a branch of B&Q’s – a big metal warehouse. Only the curved roof and some internal metal up-lights (designed in a ‘Sc-Fi’ style art-deco approximation) suggest that someone has spent at least ten minutes thinking out the aesthetics and maritime. On a positive note, it does have forty check-in desks, but I wonder if they will ever actually staff all forty at once?
Are those strange metal up-lighters, slightly Art Deco?
The Café in the new terminal is particularly funny. It’s not really café, it is more of a hatch with a metal roller-shutter. In fact it resembles the snacks sold on a couple of trestle tables, through a serving-hatch at a Church halls annual fate. There was no Cappuccino, just hot water from an erne and instant coffee. What a missed opportunity for some income generation. (Hopefully this was not the finished refreshment facility). There of course was no bank, no flower shop and little wood, let along eight types.
Another concern of mine is that although Southampton has increasingly bigger ships, a new terminal, plus a big shopping centre (with a new Ikea), the main roads to the port are the same as they ever were. They can be gridlocked at the best of time – but just imagine a day with four mega-ships are in port all at once. I’ve no idea how efficient the baggage handling is in the new terminal, but a Southampton baggage Manager once told me: “The passenger capacity of many ships has double in size, in recent years, but they have only given my team of eight men, two extra men, per ship”.
I’ll stop moaning now and will let you decide which Ocean Terminal, past or present, you prefer.
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