What makes a good station/ship?

[warcrimes]

not too much bloat (see: cogmap2)

What do you mean by bloat? The size and/or complexity of of the station and its layout?

Cog2 is bloated in every sense. 
Departments that make no compromises- every single possible configuration you could ask for is there in some form. The bar can seat 50, the kitchen is set for a full complement but only staffs 2, engineering is the size of destiny on its own, the main hallways require at the very least 4 changes of direction to go from one node to another, 8 for the whole hall ( compare to 2 shifts or less in Cog1 ), Also, many departments are larger than one full vertical screenspace, which means you've got bind spots in the same room. Every wing feels like a dungeon, every room like a wing.