BAA plans to more than triple capacity at Heathrow Terminal 2 by investing £1 billion in a new passenger building plus a housing facility for the Star Alliance group. The first phase of the new terminal building will be completed in 2013, increasing capacity to 20 million passengers a year from 10 million currently. By 2019, capacity will reach 30 million a year.

Mike Brown, Heathrow Airport’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “The new Terminal 2 is part of a major programme of work already underway. Passengers travelling through Heathrow will be using new and extensively refurbished facilities which provide us with an excellent platform from which we can provide a better service to our customers than ever before.”

The development of Heathrow’s Terminal 2 is part of a £4.8 billion investment across the airport, which will provide travellers using the UK’s hub airport with new facilities.

BAA says Terminal 2 will produce 40 percent less carbon than the buildings it is replacing. Large north-facing windows in the roof will flood the building with natural light. 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.

Construction is taking place in two phases to minimise customer disruption. The first stage will see the creation of a terminal building with 185,000m2 of floor space on the site of the existing Terminal 2 and Queen’s Building, both buildings are being demolished later this year.

Phase two is scheduled to run consecutively and will extend the new Terminal 2 into the existing Terminal 1 site. This phase, which also includes the construction of a second satellite building, is set to increase the capacity of Terminal 2 to 30 million passengers a year. Terminal 1 will close when phase two is complete in 2019, however it will remain open throughout construction.

Terminal 2 is one element of a £2.2bn investment on the eastern part of the airport. A satellite pier for the new terminal 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. 

Initial designs were for the new terminal were devised by Foster + Partners and then developed by HETCo; a joint venture between Ferrovial Agroman and Laing O’Rourke.