Kilo Apron Development
A large-scale subterranean development at London Heathrow Airport.
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Client
Ferrovial, Heathrow Airport Limited
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Architect
Gebler Tooth Architects
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Photography
Jaedan Pott
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Value
£150m
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Size
20,000m²
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Completion
2022
The project involves the demolition of the 1960s Euro buildings between Terminal 1 and Terminal T2B on the central airport site. It has enabled the future completion of the T2A building and the construction of a new taxilane.
To minimise future disruption of the site, an early bag store, hold baggage screening, and tracked transit system were constructed below the taxilane. In addition to the demolitions, a large amount of services beneath the taxilane had to be diverted as part of the scheme’s enabling works.
The substructure consists of a very large basement, measuring approximately 200m long by 100m wide, with a base 18m below ground. The perimeter of the basement is lined with 1.2m thick reinforced concrete diaphragm walls which allowed for top-down construction. The roof is formed by a reinforced concrete slab spanning between large fabricated composite beams. Steel columns support the roof and transfer loads on to a 1.5m thick raft slab which acts as the foundation.
The structure was designed to connect into the existing T2B basement, as well as to safeguard for future extension of the basement towards Terminal 2. The diaphragm walls were extended past the western edge for easy connection, and the western edge of the slab was designed to cantilever, without relying on support from the walls, to reduce the amount of temporary works needed in future works.
The design utilised several novel techniques to reduce the amount of construction time and improve sustainability, such as prefabricated reinforcement cages for the diaphragm walls and roof slab, and the use of HVO hydro-treated vegetable oil as renewable fuel for excavators.
The basement box construction utilises reinforced concrete diaphragm walls, a base raft slab and a reinforced concrete roof slab. Complex geotechnical ground movement analyses have been carried out to ensure that heave and settlement movements are adequately resisted by the structural frame as well as within the tight tolerances required by the baggage equipment and operational requirements of the taxilane above.
Awards
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2023
NCE Awards
Impact in Airports
Shortlisted
More