Terminal 5 | Heathrow

BAA’s Terminal 5: Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited is formerly known as BAA. It is the United Kingdom-based operator of Heathrow Airport.

During the construction, we structurally designed four ramps at the rear of the car park. Each ramp is 23m in diameter and 17m high. Also, wrapped around large vent shafts from the underground station.

We collaborated with Malling Products Ltd, part of the Laing O’Rourke Group. They asked us to review the preliminary design with the project team.

This design incorporated very tall precast concrete shaft panels. We identified the difficulty to crane into place. As a result, we proposed casting a ring of wall panels for each storey height. Making handling easier, each ring contained four segments approximately 10 tonnes each.

We worked with our team partners Practech Design Studio Ltd and the Contractor’s design managers. We derived a method to tie the segments together. Then erected the architectural columns, parapets and ramp deck panels in sequence around the shaft for each of the five stories.

The extensive discussions and planning for terminal 5 paid off as the four ramps erected safely and within the challenging program.