if you want to use one without dock, maybe use an better streamlined hull, and make a ship like an invincible class. your layout is also possible, the new USS America will have it, but it is still based on the same hull as the old ships.
It is a small limited design because it's designed and made to be a cheap design. It's based on a existing LPD hull to keep the costs down. it's intended for smaller fleets to give them some carrier capabilities, not to give them the full spectrum of fleet carrier capabilities.
In the navy I am building it's just to expensive to build enough larger carriers (Iwo Jima like designs) to do both the amphibious operations and the fleet air defence/ASW missions. So I decided to split the missions up and make a LPD and a light carrier based on the same hull. That way there are enough ships to do both the types of missions (instead of 8 Iwo Jima like ships, we have 4 LPD's and 4 light carriers)
As for the placing of the elevator. This ship is just too small for 2 of them, I could place it more to the side but It's not in that bad a place, it doesn't eat up that much parking or landing space.