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There are various lounge areas, each providing a different environment for passengers. Visitors can choose to sit in the high-quality seating in front of the enormous glazed windows that overlook the planes, or visit the various soft play areas for children, or sit in the quieter business-oriented waiting areas.

The undulating roof overhead unites the building, both outside and inside, as spaces are formed by flexible interior walls as a sequence of spaces or buildings within the building.

Travelers who experience T5 from the outside are greeted by a 35-meter- (115-foot-) wide public plaza between the terminal and a vast 3,800-space parking structure. Designed to create a bit of green landscaping, the tree-lined plaza includes seating and views, albeit dominated by the bulky mass of the multistory parking structure.

Elemental Sustainability

The environmental strategy for the Heathrow projects was studied both as an overall system and in also in phases, so that each part of the airport regeneration meets emerging sustainability and technical criteria as well as the changing needs of the airport.

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is known for its commitment to sustainable design. At T5, sustainability is integral to the design of the building. The compact high-rise form reduces the building footprint and envelope size; glazed walls allow daylight across the terminal; and, perhaps most of all, the "loose fit" design creates flexible spaces, reducing future need for rebuilding and renovating.

Shaky Opening

Unfortunately for British Airways and many travelers, in the weeks after T5 opened for business, the new terminal faced extensive service problems, with reportedly 500 flights canceled in the first two weeks and many more flights delayed.

The public relations disaster led British Airways to postpone moving its long-haul flights to T5 until summer 2008. Meanwhile, it struggles to cope with the specially designed, high-tech baggage-handling systems that should have been a unique selling point for the terminal.

Despite this, the client, British Airports Authority, calls T5 "a quantum leap" and the renovated Heathrow "a new airport for London."

Regeneration Continues

With 16 major projects and over 147 subprojects, the scale and complexity of the buildings at Heathrow make it the UK's largest and most ambitious construction project. Dozens of consultants and designers have contributed to the works.

One of the next projects underway is Heathrow East, to be designed by Foster + Partners. It has been granted planning permission to replace two of the airport's oldest terminals, T1 and T2. Due to be completed in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, it will feature photovoltaic roof tiles and a combined heating, cooling, and power system that will use waste heat from electricity generation to warm the building.

Terri Peters is a writer and designer based in London.

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Detail of the flexible joint connecting upper and lower inclined columns at Heathrow Terminal 5. Photo: Flickr user Terminal5insider Extra Large Image Joints at multiple scales allow the curtain wall and main structure of Terminal 5 to flex to accommodate uneven stress. Photo: Flickr user Terminal5insider Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Departure gates are on the highest level of Terminal 5, just below the curving roof. Photo: Flickr user Terminal5insider Extra Large Image Terminal 5 apron plan drawing. Image: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Extra Large Image Terminal 5 arrival-level plan drawing. Image: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Extra Large Image Plan drawing of Terminal 5 check-in hall. Image: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Extra Large Image Terminal 5 departure-level plan drawing. Image: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Extra Large Image Cross section drawing with passenger circulation diagrams. Image: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Extra Large Image Longitudinal section drawing with passenger circulation diagrams. Image: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Extra Large Image Heathrow's Terminal 5 building is expected to accommodate about 30 million passengers per year. Photo: Flickr user Terminal5insider Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.