The building provides well organised new facilities for gate lounges and support accommodation, offering passengers an exceptional travel experience.

The client required the new satellite building be built 25% quicker and for 10% less cost than Heathrow's previous best practice for satellite buildings. Balanced against these demands was the fundamental requirement to create a building of real permanence and quality. This drove the scheme from design through to final detailing.

The resulting 520-metre-long superstructure is simply clad in metal and glass and encloses two levels of accommodation, with services for plant and staff at ground level and airy gate lounge departure facilities at first floor.

The open floor plates allow for an optimum arrangement of services, including light-filled waiting areas, generous quantities of seating, intuitive wayfinding and also take into account the need for regular reconfiguration.

Within the upper level, an elevated, timber-clad arrivals corridor creates a natural separation between departing and arriving passengers.

Throughout the project, finishes are composed of simple, modular elements that optimize the advantages of prefabrication yet impart visual elegance and structural efficiency.