Heathrow Airport - Terminal 2

Industry

Aviation

Expertises

Working at Height

Safety Circle steps used in this project

Installation Solutions

The building

Heathrow Terminal 2, also known as The Queen’s Terminal, was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in June 2014. The terminal, designed by the Spanish architect Luis Vidal, was built by Ferrovial in a consortium with Laing O’Rourke.

The construction involved a 210,000 m² footprint between the terminal and the satellite building – equivalent to 25 football fields and a €3 billion investment, created 35,000 jobs and posed a significant challenge to the airport’s management team.

In 2010 Lakesmere was awarded the £15 million contract to design and install the terminal building’s striking, Foster & Partners designed, undulating waveform roof and associated steelwork in addition to work on the terminal’s plant rooms.

This prestigious contract saw the specialist install some 45,000m² of Kalzip aluminium and approximately 6,000 m² of glazing. complex roof structure which has been designed by architects.

The requirements

The complex nature of the roof, north light glazing and plantrooms coupled with the physical size of the building’s footprint created enormous access problems not only for future maintenance but also for construction phase works.

Lakesmere initially approached Eurosafe about the fixed handrail to the perimeter of the building, but during design meetings, the larger issue of the glazing replacement and eyebrow access became the focal point of the contract.

The solution

Calling on our previous knowledge of travelling ladder and gantry systems, Eurosafe’s team came up with a proposal to design, supply and install a mechanical glazing installation system that could be loaded at the end of each eyebrow, transport the glazing unit along the eyebrow and lift each unit into place.

This system was to be used throughout the construction phase and also provide a long-term glazing replacement strategy for the building. In excess of 5000m of aluminium monorail were installed to carry the gantries; coupled with 3500m of aluminium grillage walkways and gutter covers, over 1500m of fixed handrail and dozens of ladders and staircases creating Eurosafe`s largest contract at the time and is still without doubt the most technically complex project we have worked on.