I would have to assume the extra cost (compared to cargo space) of airlocks is all the connections, docking clamps, rapid pressurisation and depressurisation equipment, EVA equipment, decontamination, emergency closure, plus the communications and security elements necessary. It is the ships "front door" and just as your house front door probably has more "functions" than the back door or maybe the equally sturdy internal garage door to your house, so does the primary air-lock. The comms equates to the "door bell", the doormat equates to the decontamination equipment etc. The area of my house backdoor is full of stuff that hasn't quite made the transition from internal to external storage. The front door area is pretty well clear of all but "EVA equipment" (coats, hats etc.)
As pointed out previously you can fit as many pressure bulkheads as you want at no cost or Dtonnage. Two such bulkheads in a row constitute an "airlock" from purely an air management standpoint. The pressure management aspect is not particularly significant (1 atmosphere is not that high a bar - see what I did there!). I tend to assume you can pump air in and out of bulkhead protected compartments (but possibly not as rapidly as you could with a proper airlock), but it may be that you can just contain any air that is already in there (and the valves automatically shut off if a sudden pressure drop is detected) and manually repressurise when the situation is resolved.
What those internal bulkheads probably don't have is all the other functions. From an ergonomic standpoint for example a formal airlock will probably be easier to keep uncluttered than other areas, as maintaining that level of discipline* throughout the ship is difficult. If every compartment between bulkheads is an "airlock" then every loose item in them needs to be locked down against violent decompression. A pencil propelled by the gale force wind of decompression becomes a deadly projectile. You may be able to enforce that level of lockdown if the compartment is not accessed for the voyage, but as soon as any equipment there is needed you risk loose articles. Similarly the bulkhead door between cargo compartment and the rest of the ship probably does not have full decontamination equipment, the external cargo airlock probably does.
Any bay is also a "free" airlock - or in reality a more expensive one since it has extra facilities.
Airlocks cost exactly the same per DTon as common space. It would be nice to know how much internal volume a 2 Dton airlock has, but as internal walls etc. don't take up tonnage elsewhere you could as easily argue that the 2 Dtons is the internal capacity as well. Re-imagining every common space as an airlock of the same dimensions then becomes trivial.
Just don't expect to fill it up with crap without consequence.
*Even military inspections are generally preceded by a flurry of activity to resolve all the things that should have been in place already, but higher priority activity meant things got untidy - though hopefully not "cat lady" untidy.
As pointed out previously you can fit as many pressure bulkheads as you want at no cost or Dtonnage. Two such bulkheads in a row constitute an "airlock" from purely an air management standpoint. The pressure management aspect is not particularly significant (1 atmosphere is not that high a bar - see what I did there!). I tend to assume you can pump air in and out of bulkhead protected compartments (but possibly not as rapidly as you could with a proper airlock), but it may be that you can just contain any air that is already in there (and the valves automatically shut off if a sudden pressure drop is detected) and manually repressurise when the situation is resolved.
What those internal bulkheads probably don't have is all the other functions. From an ergonomic standpoint for example a formal airlock will probably be easier to keep uncluttered than other areas, as maintaining that level of discipline* throughout the ship is difficult. If every compartment between bulkheads is an "airlock" then every loose item in them needs to be locked down against violent decompression. A pencil propelled by the gale force wind of decompression becomes a deadly projectile. You may be able to enforce that level of lockdown if the compartment is not accessed for the voyage, but as soon as any equipment there is needed you risk loose articles. Similarly the bulkhead door between cargo compartment and the rest of the ship probably does not have full decontamination equipment, the external cargo airlock probably does.
Any bay is also a "free" airlock - or in reality a more expensive one since it has extra facilities.
Airlocks cost exactly the same per DTon as common space. It would be nice to know how much internal volume a 2 Dton airlock has, but as internal walls etc. don't take up tonnage elsewhere you could as easily argue that the 2 Dtons is the internal capacity as well. Re-imagining every common space as an airlock of the same dimensions then becomes trivial.
Just don't expect to fill it up with crap without consequence.
*Even military inspections are generally preceded by a flurry of activity to resolve all the things that should have been in place already, but higher priority activity meant things got untidy - though hopefully not "cat lady" untidy.
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