Terminal 2, Heathrow's oldest terminal, was opened as the Europa Building in 1955. The current terminal has an area of 49,654m2. It will finally close on 26 November 2009 and be demolished shortly afterwards.
The removal of the adjacent Queen's Building is already well underway and the site vacated by both buildings will enable the construction of the first phase of a vast new Terminal 2, to be home to the Star Alliance. The first phase of the new Terminal 2 will cover an area of 180,000m2 and is expected to open in 2013.
A second phase, replacing Terminal 1, will open in 2019.
The construction of the new terminal envisages a complete realignment of piers more logically and the building of new ones on the now defunct cross-wind runway, in a site taking up roughly the same amount of space as Terminal 5. Formerly Heathrow East, the core terminal building (half of which will be built as phase one and half as phase two) will be known as Terminal 2A, and there will be two satellite buildings named Terminal 2B and Terminal 2C. Terminal 2B has been under construction since 2008. It is set to provide Heathrow with 16 additional stands and will be connected via an underground link to the main terminal building. Terminal 2C will be built as part of the second phase of the development.
The entire project will, when completed, have a capacity of 30 million passengers a year and will cost £1-1.5bn. The new Terminal 2 will produce 40 per cent less carbon than the buildings it is replacing. Large north-facing windows in the roof will flood the building with natural light, reducing the need for artificial lighting without generating uncomfortable levels of heat in the building. Solar-gathering panels on the roof will further reduce the dependency on energy supplies. Additionally a new energy centre, partially fuelled by renewable resources, will provide heating and cooling for the building. |
