Features include a long, sweeping bar, floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the airfield, and high-quality finishes throughout including a large Big Ben replica clock in the tea lounge section. The United Global First section had a bronze colour theme and the United Club section had a silver/chrome theme, both reflected in the ceiling choices.
The ceiling layout was particularly complex, utilising a number of ceiling finish levels and interfacing with joinery products. Additionally there were a number of access requirements from the ceiling due to the quantity of services and the final outcome achieved full void access without reducing the integrity of the aesthetic.
3DReid originally approached Armstrong due to their previous work with the practice. It was critical that they worked with a UK supplier to achieve the cost and programme requirements of the project as the construction programme was particularly tight, from July 2013 to May 2014, with the terminal opening in June 2014.
Some 800 sq m of Armstrong’s Axiom Knife Edge 9290mm x 1200mm canopies with a mixture of perforated metal MicroLook 8 tiles in a pearl beige finish with fleece, the bespoke RH-225 metal hook-on ceiling system, also in pearl beige as well as brushed aluminium satin and signal white, and the Microperforated 600mm x 600mm S-Clip F swing-down tiles with fleece installed on the System 3000 concealed grid in signal white – were specified to complement this design.
There were a number of metallic finishes within the project and it had been critical that the ceiling tiles complemented the skirting, flooring, trims and sockets but Armstrong provided a number of iterations through design development and worked hard to achieve a finish that matched the client’s design aspirations.
Ceiling Contractor
HLS Installations
Main Contractor
ISG Group PLC
Architect
3DReid