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Title: Integrated scheme for new Heathrow terminal Pages: 72 - 79        
Author: George Rosie Text: Integrated scheme for new Heathrow terminal The Terminal 1 building at Heathrow, opened by the Queen in April, is the British Airports Authority's first major project since it was set up three years ago. The design has been meticulously coordinated, writes George Rosie, with details like approach roads, architectural fittings, and graphics all tied into a unified scheme. Fittingly perhaps, the underlying rationale of Heathrow Airport is most apparent from the air, and even from there the sea of concrete with its nucleus of untidy, constantly mutating buildings hardly qualifies as a planner's dream. Nevertheless, thriving airports are chronically difficult to plan, and Heathrow has come a long way recently. Last year saw the advent of the Terminal 3 building (for long-haul international flights) and this year, April 17 to be exact, saw the completion of the Terminal 1 building (domestic and shorthaul international flights). The new building replaces the semi-permanent, semi-unspeakable conditions which were the lot of domestic passengers, and at the same time siphons off BEA's traffic from the No 2 Europa building. It is sited at the north- east corner of the central complex, is very well provided with access roads (three in all), possesses an integral but possibly inadequate 800-space car park a few yards from the main entrances, and is designed to handle (eventually) 1800 domestic passengers and 1450 international passengers per hour in troth directions. The cost was roughly £11 million, for over 90000 sq ft for the domestic section, and something more than that for international passengers. The two piers at the apron side of the terminal have stands for eight aircraft per pier, each gate having a forward waiting area of 1000 sq ft. Architecturally the new terminal building comes as no surprise. Designed by Frederick Gibberd & Partners, both the plan and the elevational treatment are straightforward airport architecture as it has been practised for some years now. It is a simple, longish building (600 ft x 275 ft) from which two piers project at either end of the apron side. Gatwick, Newcastle, Abbotsinch, even Manchester are variations on the same theme - and there are many more abroad - all of which could have been more carefully consulted. The steel frame is clad with expanses of glass with concrete between floors making for horizontal emphasis (as befits a linear, horizontal building). The ever-changing environment of Heath Terminal 1 is immediately to the left as one enters the main airport area, with the circular cooling tower for the air conditioning and the multideck car park in front. Central airport area 1 Main access tunnel 2 Pier 4 3 Terminal 1 4 Multi-deck car parks 5 Pier 3 6 Queen's building 7 Pier 2 8 Terminal 2 9 10 pier 1 11 Freight tunnel 12 pier 6 13 South wing office block 14 Terminal 3 15 North wing office block 16 Pier 5 17 Freight building 18 Petrol depot 19 Central heating station 20 Control building 21 Bus station Plan at second-floor level Plan at first-floor level - Departures Plan at ground level -Arrivals Second floor 1 Domestic balcony lounge 2 International balcony lounge 3 Buffet and tea 4 Licensed bars 5 Call order bar 6 Waitress restaurant 7 Staircase 8 Lifts 9 Service ducts 10 Kitchens and stores 11 Staff wc's 12 Offices First floor (Departures) 1 Concourse 2 Domestic lounge 3 International lounge 4 Bridge to pier 5 International Arrivals balcony 6 Domestic Arrivals balcony 7 Staircase 8 Escalator up 9 Escalator down 10 Passenger lifts 11 Goods/baggage lifts 12 Passenger wc's 13 Service ducts 14 SilverWing lounge 15 Nursery 16 Shopping parade 17 Bar preparation and storage 18 Duty free shop and stores 19 Licensed bar 20 Tea bar 21 24-hour bar 22 Book stall 23 Special Branch 24 Customs and Immigration offices 25 Immigration and customs comb 26 Customs 27 Check-in desks 28 Airline offices 29 Airline counters 30 Entrances from elevated road 31 Transfer desks 32 Telephones 33 Elevated road 34 Bridge to car park 35 Bridge to Queen's building 36 Domestic VIP suite 37 Upper part of domestic Arrivals 38 Upper part of international Arrivals area Ground floor (Arrivals) 1 Immigration comb 2 International baggage reclaim 3 Baggage carousel 4 Customs 5 Central concourse 6 Domestic baggage reclaim 7 Staircases 8 Escalator up 9 Escalator down 10 Passenger lifts 11 Goods/baggage lifts 12 Passenger wc's 13 Service ducts 14 Exit to road 15 Exit to coach road 16 Domestic passengers entrance from coaches (Departures) 17 Porters' access 18 International passengers entrance from coaches (Departures) 19 Domestic baggage 20 International baggage 21 Departure baggage (descending from Departures level) 22 Departure baggage sorting 23 Domestic passengers entrance from airside coaches 24 Information desk 25 Airline counters 26 Bank 27 Coach road 28 Catering goods 29 Baggage stores and offices 30 Port Wealth 31 Porters 32 VIP suite 33 Ramp from aircraft coach station 34 Transfer baggage Passengers being delivered to the Terminal's domestic section by airside coach arrive at the north-westend, left, straight into the baggage reclaim hall. Customs and immigration desks in the international Arrivals had, far left opposite, designed by Conran Design Group, are framed in chromed steel and clad in white GRP. In the domestic Arrivals concourse, below centre, architect-designed check-in desks are clad in grey and charcoal Arborite and have 75 kg baggage scales by W & T Avery. The domestic Arrivals hall, below left, maintains the design theme with fascias clad in white Arborite, flooring by Nairn Williamson in neutral grey-green and visual sparkle provided by the signing and the Conrandesigned furniture (manufactured by Hille). The aluminium-clad air jetties, below right, by Babcock-Moxey with industrial design by Robin Day, are telescopic and can be height-adjusted to suit a wide range of aircraft.. row is certainly no place to indulge in architectural histrionics, and this the architects have certainly avoided. The building is neat, unassuming, perhaps a bit bland, and entirely orthodox in design. But as experience with monumental masonry in airport precincts proves (particularly Saarinen's concrete wizardry at Kennedy) this kind of architecture is a better option for the job it has to do. The general contractors were George Wimpey & Son Ltd and Tersons Ltd working for the British Airports Authority, with Philip Gordon-Marshall as overall design coordinator. The Conran Design Group was the furnishing and shop Fittings consultant. Putting it very basically, an airport terminal building is a kind of static junction box into which two, or possibly three transport systems are plugged. Its primary function is to sustain the smooth flow of paid-up passengers and their chattels from one mode of conveyance to another; its secondary function is to provide the human servicing that they (and their retinue) need, and to cushion them against failures in the system. Fundamentally, the new terminal scores well on both points. In principle the plan is this: passenger departures are at flrst-floor level, passenger arrivals at ground-floor level; points of contact between the two are kept to a minimum. International and domestic segregation is effected by a system of screens roughly half way down the building. Restaurants, cafes, bars, etc are all contained within a central catering complex at first- and second floor level, with most of the retail booths tucked along its flanks. Airline and airport administration offices are ranged along three sides of the building at second-floor level. Baggage sorting is dealt with at ground level along the length of the building and facing the apron. The planning is basically efficient, and well executed. But it does not work precisely in this way. For example the 40 per cent or so passengers who come in by bus from the terminal in Cromwell Road are decanted at the ground-floor Arrivals level, while passengers arriving along the piers emerge into the Departures (except the few who arrive by airside coach - they are delivered straight into the baggage reclaim area). The flow of passengers may also be impaired by certain details. At the junction of the piers and the main building, arriving passengers are able to walk straight on up the ramp into the departure lounge instead of taking the hard right turn down into the baggage hall. And the siting of the forward waiting areas, on one side of the power jetties, means that passengers may tend to clutter up the narrow corridors in the piers instead of making use of the available accommodation. In the Departures concourse the basic sound sense of the planning is sometimes let down by some of the detailing. The check-in desks, for example, face the entrance doors, but are not indicated from the front, only from the sides. (And BEA are none too happy with the back-to-back grouping of the desks - they would have preferred a supermarket "comb" system.) Again, even though the typography is by Jock Kinneir, vital signposting such as gate numbers are given the same, and sometimes less, prominence than ancillary signs, and from many angles the signs are obscured by pendant loudspeaker systems. In a few places the signposting is downright thoughtless, such as the one saying "Car hire" pointing straight to the BEA reservations desk. In most buildings faults such as these are minor, but in an airport terminal they threaten the primary function of the building. This is a pity because overall the detail is very fine. In terms of passenger amenities and comfort, the building is well endowed. The bulk of the concourse seating is situated on the side of the building nearest the apron. Seats are neatly organised to avoid cluttering up the progress from the desks in the direction of the gates, and there is a very good lounge on the second floor running the entire length of the building and overlooking the apron and the aircraft stands. The central catering complex houses two restaurants (one for each section) and two coffee-cum-liquor bars at second floor level, and provides another counter service for the large lounge in the passenger departure levels. The restaurants are neatly designed and expensively furnished, and the coffee bars are satisfactory. The splendid second-floor lounges are not serviced in this way and it is a pity that the restaurant areas are not also able to take advantage of the view (as at Abbotsinch, for example). Other amenities centred around the services complex are shopping facilities and a professionally supervised children's nursery. Visually the interiors carry through the tone set by the design of the exterior; finishes are bland, unassertive, and colours generally muted. The products of firms like Henry Hope The domestic Arrivals hall, above left, has fluorescent lighting inset into the ceiling under soffits; passengers emerging from the access piers come down the staircase/escalator to reclaim baggage from the carousels. The area is considerably enlivened by the duty foreman's control "pulpit," right, finished in white moulded glass-reinforced plastics with bright chromed exposed metalwork; the wraparound glass visor is bolted to the structure. Detailing of the retail units and exchange office, left, is excellent, and all fittings, including the illuminated signs, were designed by Conran Design Group. The telephone booths and directory carousels in the Arrivals hall, above, are also by Conran, and are elegantly constructed In white moulded GRP with chromed steel frames. Booth interiors, to p, are well equipped, with seating neatly positioned in relation to the hardwarde. The escalator linking Arrivals and Departure concourses, above right, by Otis, Is clad in white Arborite, as are the balcony fascias behind. The completely new pictogram directional system employed in the building is designed by Jock Kinneir; far right, from top the signs indicate Arrivals; Departures; Baggage Check-in; and Baggage Reclaim. & Sons, Nairn Williamson, Gray's Carpets, have made a valuable contribution to the design of the building. The total effect is pleasant enough without setting the passengers' senses on fire. Visual interest is supplied by the views through the large expanses of fenestration, by the very well designed shopping facilities, and by the specially designed hardware. The equipment (designed by Conran) - phone booths, directory stands, seating, the control "pulpits" from which the duty foremen direct the minute-to-minute timing of the terminal - deserves (and has been receiving) admiration. The seating was also designed by Conran and manufactured by Hillel It is at once sturdy and elegant, with curved bright-chromed frames upholstered in well chosen fabrics. The telephone booths are clusters of semi-circular units framed in chromed steel, and clad in white glass-reinforced plastics. The same treatment is given to the drums which contain the telephone directories, and to the cylindrical notice boards. The bright-work on white GRP styling is pursued in the foremen's pulpits. These are perhaps the most impressive components of the building: large cylindrical structures with wrap-around glass screens. The architects have provided a series of well-planned, well-scaled large spaces with good finishes. Within this design framework the specialist equipment designers, Conran Design Group, have worked out and carried through a programme of very sophisticated hardware design, and in addition have achieved the near-to-remarkable feat of persuading the retail operators to forego their house styles in favour of a coherent system of graphic display. The new Terminal 1 is a worthy addition to the architectural pot-pourri of the Heathrow building complex. With domestic traffic increasing at about one percent perannum, and international traffic at seven per cent, it will be two or three years before the building will bereallytested.Theyearl9750rsoonershould see the saturation of the facilities, at which time the planning and design of the building and its components will really show its worth. But with London's third airport still at discussion stage, both the airline operators and the terminal operators at Heathrow are anxious about the effects of the proposed European airbus, and similar aircraft. Already another arrivals building is being planned for Terminal 3, to accommodate the Boeing 747"jumbo" jets, and the existing building is to be given over to departures only. Nor surprisingly the north office block is being removed to make way for the new long-haul arrivals building, and provision is being made for an underground link to the proposed railway station in the central area of the airport, which is part of the Victoria-Heathrow link-up now in the planning stage. A feature of the Departures concourse are the retail shops, top, which, like the seating and other fittings on this page, were designed by Conran Design Group. Bench seating, top, and concourse seating, centre, is of chromed tubular steel with upholstery in a variety of fabrics; ashtrays and waste bins are of white glass-reinforced plastics with chrome trim. The lounge carpets were specially woven by Gray's to a design by Conran. Restaurant seating, bottom, is upright, with semicircular bent hardwood backs stained dark brown; upholstery is red moquette and frames are chromed steel. The tables are on single pedestals with grey melamine tops. All Conran-designed seating was made by Hillel Retail display systems at the Departures level, top opposite, feature cylindrical revolving booths designed by Conran. The structure is chrome-finished and the base clad with white GRP; the central stanchion is fitted with adapted Rotaflex track. The children's nursery, left opposite, is small with no direct lighting. By way of compensation, illumination levels are high and wall- and-floor-coverings are predominantly orange, red and yellow. Other VlPs have more conventional accommodation. The Sholto Douglas room, below opposite, is well equipped, with tv, bar, and tickertape machine. Seating is a variation on the standard Conran design, but with armrests end light coloured fabrics. |
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