Heathrow Terminal 5 building
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Heathrow Terminal 5 building is currently the largest free-standing building in the United Kingdom. The building cost £4bn and took 19 years to build from initial design to opening. The building's lead architect were from the Richard Rogers Partnership. Terminal 5 is currently used as a global hub by British Airways.
Contents |
[edit] Design
The Terminal 5 building is on a 260-hectare site located between Heathrow's two runways.
The entire Terminal 5 complex actually consists of 16 major projects and 147 sub-projects. These projects include three buildings and a railway station. Furthermore, in order for these buildings to be constructed, a new control tower had to be built. According to lead architect Mike Davis, construction of these various facilities had to satisfy the needs of 43 different groups.
[edit] Construction
During construction 7,500 workers were employed on the site. In 2005, Terminal 5 was the largest construction project in Europe.[citation needed]
[edit] Buildings
Terminal 5 is made up of three buildings referred to as T5A, T5B, and T5C.
[edit] T5A structure
T5A is the largest building at 40m tall. It is covered by a single expanse of roof, the size of five football fields, each section of which weighs 2200 tons. This roof could not have been lifted with conventional cranes because it would have penetrated the airport's radar field. Therefore, the roof was assembled on the ground using smaller cranes, then lifted into place by eight custom-built towers, each fitted with two hydraulic jacks to pull the roof up. Lifting the roof began on April 6, 2004, and was completed almost a year later.
[edit] T5A interior layout and systems
T5A contains a check in hall, a departure lounge with retail stores and other passenger services, and a baggage retrieval hall. T5A also contains the bulk of the terminal's baggage handling system. This baggage handling system is the largest in the world with 8km of high-speed track and 18km of regular conveyor belts. It is designed to handle 4,000 bags per hour, and also has an innovative “early bag store” which can temporarily store up to 12,000 bags. It was designed and tested over 8 years by system architect Iain Bailey.
Departing passengers enter the departures level on the 3rd floor after taking one of the lifts or escalators from the interchange plaza. Upon entering the departures concourse, passengers see views across Heathrow and the surrounding area, and are in a space that is unobstructed to the rising roof above. After check-in and security screening, the airside departure lounge also provides views across the airport, its runways and beyond.
[edit] Satellite buildings
T5B is the first satellite building to be built. T5C is the second satellite building, scheduled for completion in 2010.
[edit] Light rail system
Transport between the business car park and the main building is provided by a driver-less light rail system designed by Advanced Transport Systems. This “Track Transit System” is intended to eventually transport passengers between T5A, T5B and T5C (when it opens).
[edit] Railway stations
The Terminal 5 building is served by a shared railway station.
[edit] New control tower
Terminal 5's design height is so tall that it would have blocked runway views from Heathrow Airport's control tower. Therefore, before construction began on the terminal building, a new taller control tower was built off-site then maneuvered into position at the center of the airport grounds. This newer control tower weighs nearly 1000 tons and is 85m tall.
