Sixth Freedom

I am sitting in the Galleries Club South right now and everything just looks knackered. From the yellowing plastic tables and sideboards through to the wooden planks that have been worn beyond patina, the scuffing on the bottom of the doors and the rather poor state of the lavs, T5 just seems a bit knackered.

Given the high passenger flows, closure of one part of the terminal for refurbishment would cause tremendous lack of capacity in the facilities that remain open.

The terminal is 10 years old now and will be due a refresh at some point. How will BA and BAA renovate to make the place fit for the next 15 years?

jonas123

Well BAA can't do much about it as they don't exist anymore!

UKtravelbear

It depends on the lease BA has from HAL on what the requirements of both are in terms of maintenance and renovations. Some of the things you mention - scuffed skirting boards are easy to fix - get a man in with a tin of paint working over night. Ditto deep (steam) cleans of carpets, flooring, chairs etc. Of course that costs money.

But a good lease from HAL can force them to spend - like BA are having to do at JFK T7 - the Port Authority lease requires them to spend on improvements not just keep things ticking over.

RollAnotherFatOne

Oh yeah, it's on its last legs. It's like a beaten up robin reliant still doing the job in Russia. It deserves its own bricks.
In fairness, it's some packed to the rafters, the appearance doesn't matter so much as it's just going to get scuffed up anyway. It's the nearest I get to the Asda experience, so the novelty for me is ok.

markle

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irmster

T2 is so much better than T5 in every respect. (being new helps I guess).

layz

I disagree, it has areas where it is better than T5, but not every way.
1) No railway station as it shares with T3 (long walk from HEX, not too bad for Tube)
2) No first wing

Others may say lack of transit train, but I've been using the tunnels in T5 anyway.

rockflyertalk

I read or heard somewhere along the way that the T5 lounges will get a refurb of some description in the next 2-3 years or so as part of the ‘invest4u’ (or whatever it’s called now) program. They must be on the radar. The F wing and the CCR furniture were the start of this I guess!

Genius1

You need to differentiate between T5 as a general terminal building that HAL are responsible for and tenanted areas such as the BA lounges.

T5 itself is in pretty good condition and has been refurbished in many areas since opening; retail units are almost constantly changing and a luxury retail zone was created just a few years ago. The Flight Connections area was reconfigured significantly in the last couple of years too.

HAL are not responsible for almost everything that is visible inside the BA lounges; that is firmly BA's domain.

It's interesting to compare the general terminal toilets and those within the lounges; the latter are in a significantly worse state despite lower usage.

SuperstarDJ

The showers. That is all.

flatlander

I was thinking about this while in T5 a few days ago, and concluded differently that the general building fabric is holding up quite well. What set me on this train of thought was looking at the shade louvres on the outside of the building, thinking they were a bit dirty and suffering some surface corrosion. However, most of the building looks OK and most importantly works OK. No embarrassing leaks [1], for example, or prematurely detaching panes of glass [2], or urgent structural remediation [3] has been required - all of which have happened to other similar size buildings. Interior refurbishment and change happens on an ongoing basis. I don't think LHR T2 is at all superior, in particular T2 doesn't have as many useful amenities and is far too spread out compared to T5.

The BA lounges (GF and GC) need a refurbishment - the design is OK, but everything in there looks like it's at the end of its service life. Seating, wall fittings, chillers, carpet, toilets, showers, everything. But that's not Heathrow Airport's responsibility, that's BA's responsibility, and it's a tiny part of the whole of T5.


[1] Many buildings, including anything designed by Frank Gehry
[2] Hancock Tower, Boston (and others)
[3] Sundry Olympic stadia, etc.

Calum

The T5B showers really need some attention, falling apart would be an understatement.

simons1

Strange OP which starts by discussing the condition of the fittings in GF, reaches the conclusion that the entire terminal is knackered, and ends by reinventing BAA which disappeared more than 5 years ago.

Very confusing.

rockflyertalk

The T5 arrivals shower cubicles are like something out of a 1990’s local leisure centre, they really need an overhaul.

technical_bob

As others have said, the showers are an embarrassment. I strongly get the feeling that this is deliberate BA cost-squeezing though: renovating a shower room is something I'm sure lots of us have had done in our own homes, it's not hard, it's not particularly expensive. I find the service at the showers (T5 club north) quite weak as well (person at desk wandering off into the back), so overall I get the sense that the showers just are not something BA means to compete on.

I also wonder if BA have sort of admitted defeat when it comes to creating a premium feel in the club lounges, because of sheer passenger numbers. At busy times, I'm not sure what could possibly be done about the north lounge, there are simply too many passengers for the space, and an incredibly high flux of people dashing in and out for a quick snack.

As a silver I might regret saying this, but I do sometimes think there should be a nice, quiet lounge for people flying in J, and a simpler "grab and go" coffee bar type affair for those of us who are just connecting briefly between Y flights.

All that said, my major grievance at T5 is always the obnoxious security staff, rather than any of the lounges.