London Heathrow may be one of the world’s busiest aviation hub for international travellers but expansion plans are often piecemeal, uncoordinated and lacking in vision. As a result, passengers are left to endure long queues, delayed flights and often cramped in a tired environment. To address this and maximise the efficiency of the airport, Heathrow Airport commissioned London Heathrow Terminal 2 – The Queen’s Terminal in 2007. The new terminal is home to Star Alliance carriers and has been operational since June 2014. Terminal 2A was designed by Luis Vidal + Architects (LVA) while satellite building Terminal 2B was designed by Grimshaw Architects. Having two architects involved in such a large project is never ideal since it is harder to achieve a seamless design throughout and this is evidently reflected in the layout of Terminal 2.

I first visited Terminal 2 in September 2014 and some of the shortcomings are glaringly obvious:

• Leaving passengers exposed to the weather elements due to the lack of adequate shelter at the passenger drop off area;
• Check in counters are clustered too closely together resulting in a claustrophobic atmosphere;
• Poor integration between Terminal 2A and 2B. The walk between the two terminals on average takes 15 minutes. There are travelators dotted around but a monorail solution would have been more practical; and
• Lack of shopping facilities and food & beverage outlets in Terminal 2B.