Terminal refit takes off at London Heathrow
01st October 2010
Overhauling one of the world’s busiest airport terminals presented a range of challenges for the mechanical and engineering consultants involved in the project. And key to the successful outcome was co-operation between the wide range of stakeholders. As featured on the cover of the CIBSE Journal, October 2010.
An article written by Alasdair MacIntosh, Dominic O'Hara and George McBride.
The opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and associated transfer of British Airways’ operations provided airport operator BAA with an opportunity to carry out a large-scale refurbishment of the existing facilities at Terminal 4.
Morgan Sindall Professional Services was appointed by BAA under its long-standing design framework to develop the mechanical and electrical design for the ambitious redevelopment portfolio.
Morgan Sindall’s task was to turn a tired, underlit and overly warm space into a high-quality, modern terminal building consistent with the Heathrow vision for a world-leading passenger experience.
“The accuracy of our early environmental modelling and calculation took on a huge significance, given the procurement constraints.”
Alasdair MacIntosh, Associate Director - Electrical
One of the early tasks undertaken by the M&E design team was to provide advice to the whole project team on the building envelope, in order to maximise energy performance and deliver high levels of passenger comfort throughout the concourse area. Project architect 3D Reid designed the extension’s main façade to be highly glazed for aesthetic considerations and to gain the daylight benefit of a south-east facing outlook.
The project team had to ensure that the façade was
capable of resisting a bomb or projectile attack. This requirement was brought home powerfully to the whole team by an attack on Glasgow airport in June 2007, when a burning car was driven into the main terminal building – an incident that occurred midway through the design programme.
To view the full CIBSE Journal article please click here
