17th February 2025
In November 1991, Stansted Airport officially opened to passengers and challenged all the rules of airport terminal design. Today, the airport serves as a global hub for both domestic and international flights, accommodating over 18 million passengers annually.
Learn more about the practice’s groundbreaking project, from its ‘upside-down’ design to its area that is equivalent to 61 football pitches.
1. The terminal was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on March 15th 1991.
2. The aircraft parking apron and taxiways cover an area of 666,000 square meters which is the equivalent to 61 football pitches.
3. Stansted turns the idea of a traditional airport ‘upside-down’, banishing the intensive services such as baggage handling usually found at roof level to an undercroft that runs beneath the entire concourse floor.
4. The terminal’s opening in 1991 increased the airport’s capacity from two to eight million passengers a year – it now accommodates over 18 million passengers a year.
5. All public facilities are provided on a single concourse floor with side-by-side arrivals and departures, reducing the walking distances for passengers and enabling them to move through the building on simple linear routes.
6. Stansted has an unmatched European route network, bringing more European visitors to London than any other airport.
7. The building features a 12-meter-high glass wall that stretches 720 meters around all four sides of the concourse, flooding the area with natural light.
8. The airport has been featured in various movies and television shows, such as The Dark Knight Rises, Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Crown.
9. Service distribution systems are contained within the ‘trunks’ of the structural ‘trees’ that rise from the undercroft through the concourse floor. These trees support a roof canopy that is freed simply to keep out the rain and let in light.
Service and information pod within a structural tree. The pods carry all the terminal building's mechanical and electrical services and security systems. © Richard Davies
The units were designed to be completely flexible and were structured as scaled-down versions of the terminal itself, with mini 'trees' carrying services through their 'trunks'. © Dennis Gilbert / VIEW
10. The project has won nearly 20 awards including a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award, a Civic Trust Award, and the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award for European Architecture.
