The Queens Building was an office building at

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

next to

Heathrow Terminal 2 Heathrow Terminal 2, also known as The Queen's Terminal, is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London, United Kingdom. The new development was originally named Heathrow East Terminal, and occupies the sites where t ...

. It was opened in 1955 by Queen Elizabeth II and was demolished in 2009 to make room for a rebuilt Terminal 2. It was the location of the operational offices of BAA until demolition.

History

The Queens Building was built as part of a new central area for London Airport (as Heathrow was known at the time). It was designed in 1950 by

Frederick Gibberd Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd (7 January 1908 – 9 January 1984) was an English architect, town planner and landscape designer. He is particularly known for his work in Harlow, Essex, and for the BISF house, a design for a prefabricated council ...

. Though it was initially going to be named "Eastern Apex Building", upon opening by Queen Elizabeth II it was announced it would be named the "Queens Building" after the Queen. The office buildings held the airport's administration, as well as airline offices and the only business and conference centre on airport property. In 1956, it was one of the most visited attractions in London due to its runway viewing platforms and rooftop gardens. It was a very popular location with

plane spotter Aircraft spotting, or plane spotting is a hobby of tracking the movement of aircraft, which is often accomplished by photography. Besides monitoring aircraft, plane spotting enthusiasts (who are usually called plane spotters) also record informa ...

s. The Queens Building was also constructed with an immigration detention facility designed for holding immigration offenders short-term for up to five days. This facility was in use until 1994 when a new immigration detention centre was opened at Cayley House on the Heathrow campus. In 2005, BAA announced that the Queens Building would be demolished alongside the old Terminal 2 building before rebuilding Terminal 2. BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd said "The Queens Building has long sat at the heart of Heathrow, but the past must make way for the future...". Despite this, the Queens Building was expanded in 2006 to include new offices. All airlines gradually moved out and BAA moved their offices to the Compass Centre. Demolition started in 2009, with Terminal 2 flights being diverted to help facilitate the demolition.

References

{{coords, 51.471008, -0.450214, display=title Buildings and structures at Heathrow Airport 1955 establishments in England 2009 disestablishments in England Office buildings in London Immigration detention centres and prisons in the United Kingdom History of Heathrow Airport