2013-07-09 — /travelprnews.com/ — Today (8 July 2013), Chief Executive of Gatwick Airport, Stewart Wingate, announces the appointment of Sir Terry Farrell to provide expert advice on its runway capacity plans.
Sir Terry will offer specialist advice to the airport in support of its proposal for additional runway capacity and its vision for a ‘constellation of three London Airports with two runways each’ – Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
Sir Terry, and his architect planning company, brings over forty years of experience in delivering major development projects across the world. In the UK, building schemes include MI6, Embankment Place, the new Home Office HQ and the Deep Aquarium in Hull. Large scale infrastructure planning and buildings dominate their work in East Asia including Incheon Airport in Korea, Beijing and Guangzhou High Speed rail stations in China and the tallest building ever by a British architect in Shenzhen.
London Gatwick believes that its constellation vision for three competing major London airports is the best solution for London and the UK. Large numbers of world cities are well served by this kind of approach including New York, Tokyo, Moscow, Istanbul and Paris. At the heart of its vision is the reality that London and the South East is the UK’s hub for aviation – not one airport.
London Gatwick also believes that runway expansion at the airport would be affordable, deliverable and sustainable. It would also give passengers, communities, airlines and businesses the certainty they need.
Stewart Wingate, London Gatwick Chief Executive, said: “Sir Terry has unrivalled experience and a unique insight into the aviation debate and the issues which the Airports Commission will have to consider. Having designed major transport infrastructure around the world, including the hub airport in South Korea, he will bring to the airport a track record of delivering major transport projects whilst ensuring London and the UK gets the right solution”.
Sir Terry said: “I am delighted that Farrells and Gatwick have combined forces on the critical issue of airport expansion. The ‘constellation approach’ of keeping Heathrow open, whilst building an additional runway at Gatwick and then in time at Stansted transforms the debate away from the over-engineered and unnecessary idea of a mega hub at Heathrow or to the East of London.
“The world city of London, with the largest aviation market in the world, is the hub and its airport infrastructure needs to evolve and grow around the city. The concept of building a single mega-hub airport is at significant odds with what London needs. There is a reason a city the size of London doesn’t have one mega-railway station but has major stations at Victoria, Waterloo, Kings Cross St. Pancras and Euston – the same principle applies to airports.”
To read London Gatwick vision for the future, ‘A better solution for London & the UK’, click here.
To find out more about Gatwick Airport’s views on the aviation debate go to http://bettersolution.gatwickairport.com
Notes to Editors
For more information about Farrells contact Laura Berman: lberman@terryfarrell.co.uk / 020 7258 3433
Sir Terry Farrell and his company Farrells have been commissioned by Gatwick Airport to:
- Provide strategic advice on Gatwick’s multi-airport model (the constellation approach) and how it would support the role of London as world city
- Undertake a series of assessments looking at the impact on London of having a system of competing airports of equal size compared to the impacts from having a single, dominant mega hub. This would cover the impact on
- the experience of passengers and Londoners (i.e. through having a greater range of choice and options)
- economic growth, and
- the environmental impacts.
About Sir Terry Farrell CBE
Sir Terry Farrell CBE is considered to be the UK’s leading architect planner, with offices in London and Hong Kong. During 40 years in practice he has completed many award winning buildings and Masterplans including Embankment Place and The Home Office Headquarters as well as millennium projects such as The Deep in Hull and Centre for Life in Newcastle. UK Masterplans include Greenwich Peninsula, Paddington Basin and Newcastle Quayside.
In East Asia, notable projects include Incheon airport in Seoul, Beijing Station and Guangzhou Station in China (the largest in the world). In Hong Kong he has designed the Peak Tower, Kowloon Station development and the British Consulate. Throughout his career, he has championed urban planning and helped shape government policy on key issues. As recognition of this, in 2013 he was voted the individual who made the Greatest Contribution to London’s Planning and Development over the last 10 years. In London, he is the Mayor’s Design Advisor and advises the Department for Transport on high speed rail. He is Design Champion for the Thames Gateway, Europe’s largest regeneration project and masterplanner for the transformation of Holborn and Earls Court.
About Farrells
Farrells are considered to be the UKs leading architect planners with offices in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai. For forty years the practice has shaped the debate on urban design and believes passionately in the creation of the civic realm and the vital spaces in between buildings.
In the UK, building schemes include MI6, Embankment Place, the new Home Office HQ and the Deep Aquarium in Hull. Large scale infrastructure planning and buildings dominate their work in East Asia including Incheon Airport in Korea, Beijing and Guangzhou High Speed rail stations in China and the tallest building ever by a British architect in Shenzhen.
Completed masterplans include Newcastle Quayside, Brindley Place in Birmingham and West Kowloon in Hong Kong. Current projects in London include Earls Court, the Embassy Quarter in Nine Elms, Convoys Wharf and Mid Town in Holborn.
Many of Farrells’ projects have won international design awards and the company’s architectural and urban design work is featured in publications worldwide.
For more information contact:
Gatwick Airport press office
t: + 44 (0) 1293 505000
e: gatwickmedia@gatwickairport.com
About Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is the UK’s second largest airport and the busiest single-runway airport in the world. It serves more than 180 destinations in 90 countries for around 34.2 million passengers a year on short- and long-haul point-to-point services. It is also a major economic driver for the South-East region, generating around 23,000 on-airport jobs and a further 13,000 jobs through related activities. The airport is 28 miles south of London with excellent public transport links, including the Gatwick Express. Gatwick Airport is owned by a group of international investment funds, of which Global Infrastructure Partners is the largest shareholder.
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Sir Terry Farrell – Britain’s leading architect planner