T2, One of the Largest Construction Contracts in UK History

In 2014, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened London’s Heathrow Terminal 2, the largest privately funded construction project in the history of the United Kingdom. Construction took place in the heart of Heathrow, between two runways and their taxiways.

The New Queen’s Terminal

As the main shareholder at Heathrow Airport, we are fully committed to the continuous improvement of our services and airport facilities to enhance the passenger journey of the more than 80 million that travel through our terminals every year.

In 2014, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated the new Terminal 2 of the London airport–named The Queen’s Terminal–the renovation of which totaled 3 billion euros, which made it one of the largest construction projects financed by a private company in the United Kingdom’s history.

In 2014, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened the new Terminal 2 of the London airport, also known as The Queen’s Terminal. Renovations totaled 3 million euros, making it one of the largest construction projects financed by a private company in the history of the United Kingdom.

The project — financed by Ferrovial Aeropuertos and built by Ferrovial Construction in a consortium with Laing O’Rourke — allowed for the creation of a terminal with a capacity for more than 20 million passengers a year.

Terminal 2 expands over an area of 210,000 m².  The construction replaced the old terminal that had been in operation since 1955. The project also included the construction of a satellite terminal, new access roads, a new aircraft parking area to house state-of-the-art airplanes and a renovated, higher-capacity train station.

When passengers arrive at Terminal 2, they see a large aluminum sculpture called Slipstream, designed by the renowned British artist Richard Wilson. The sculpture weighs 77 tons and is 78 meters long. It recreates the path of a small aircraft performing aerial acrobatics and has been described as the largest permanent sculpture in Europe.

Improving the experience of our customers and employees

Since it opened, the terminal has been voted as the World’s Best Airport Terminal by the Skytrax awards on multiple occasions. The terminal most recently won this award in 2018.

The combination of technological and artistic elements at Terminal 2 make it one of the most innovative airport infrastructures in the world, which has improved the experience of our passengers and our 75,000 employees who work at the London hub.

The Construction Project

The terminal was built by Ferrovial in consortium with Laing O’Rourke. Luis Vidal + Architects are the concept and lead architects for Heathrow’s Terminal 2 and are collaborating with Pascall + Watson during the fit out phase. Foster + Partners were the Heathrow Airport master planners and the East terminal building concept architects during the initial project phase.

As mentioned previously, the terminal and satellite building covers a surface area of 210,000 m² (equal to 25 soccer fields) and required an investment of 3 billion euros. Furthermore, the project’s execution was a huge success in terms of jobs — creating 35,000 jobs — and in terms of safety — with a total of 0 accidents in more than 5 million working hours.

We completed the project in five years and seven months: ahead of schedule and without disrupting airport operations. Over the six months preceding its opening, we ran more than 180 million tests to ensure that the check-in process and other terminal processes worked perfectly. We also ran a series of simulations to see how the terminal worked for passengers. 14,000 people took part in these simulations, the largest of which involved more than 3,000 volunteers.

One of the Most Sustainable Terminals

In addition to being an excellent, modern facility that simplifies the flow of passengers, luggage and aircrafts, it is also environmentally friendly. Construction work was carried out in accordance with the highest sustainability standards, making Terminal 2 the first facility of its kind to receive the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) environmental certification. In addition to recycling 100% of the waste from the demolition of the old terminal, the facility has an energy-efficiency center that runs on renewable energy. This facility regulates air conditioning, which — together with the use of efficient construction materials and a roof that makes use of natural light — has reduced the CO₂ emissions by over 40% when compared with the previous building.