Category: Building Automation

BAA/Heathrow Airport

Middlesex, United Kingdom

Baggage Claim at Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal

Challenges

  • Complex Integration: Managing 50+ different building systems (HVAC, fire, security, CCTV, elevators) through a single interface with 3M+ data tags
  • Future Flexibility: Needed architecture that could adapt to operational changes and technical expansions without major overhauls
  • Risk Management: Required standardized symbols, consistent tag structures, and minimal interfaces to reduce deployment risks

Results

  • Faster Response: Operators can respond more quickly to situations with better information than any previously designed terminal model
  • Global Visibility: Provides complete building operations view with drill-down capability to any asset or area via pan and zoom features
  • Seamless Integration: OPC standards enabled connectivity across industrial devices, allowing users to see and react to cause-and-effect relationships

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About BAA/Heathrow Airport T5 Terminal

The T5 Terminal at London’s Heathrow Airport was one of Europe’s largest construction projects, funded by BAA at £4.2 billion. Initial planning for the facility, with a planned capacity of moving 30 million passengers a year, began in 1985 leading to a national design competition in 1989, then a four-year public inquiry, the longest ever on record.

Permission was granted in November 2001 to begin development, a major step in providing BAA its first new gateway at Heathrow since Terminal 4 opened in 1986. Construction of T5 remained steady and on time as the terminal’s March 30, 2008, opening day approached. BAA sought a comprehensive solution to deliver a very intelligent control room to operate the new T5 Terminal.

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A Control Screen at T5 Terminal at Heathrow A Control Screen at T5 Terminal at Heathrow

Software Deployed

GENESIS OPC Web-enabled HMI/SCADA suite was selected by Ultra Electronics Airport Systems, a “first-tier” supplier for T5’s Building System Integration (BSI) and the BAA Systems Team.

A Control Screen at T5 Terminal at Heathrow A Control Screen at T5 Terminal at Heathrow
Baggage Claim at Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal Baggage Claim at Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal

Project Summary

The new terminal was designed to be a fully integrated facility, monitored through a central Terminal Service Centre (TSC) and mobile devices. A common user interface was needed to access and centralize:

  • Heating and ventilation systems
  • Lighting
  • Fire safety systems
  • Elevators
  • CCTV
  • Security systems
  • Alarm management and automated system interaction

At its opening, T5 included more than 50 different systems, producing a massive tag count of over 3 million—handled easily thanks to the robust nature of GENESIS. By leveraging open industry standards based on OPC, the resulting architecture was also designed for future expansion and integration, as required by the customer.

Baggage Claim at Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal Baggage Claim at Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal
Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal

Benefits of the System

The GENESIS platform, as implemented by Ultra, provides terminal operators with:

  • Faster response to changes and unexpected situations
  • A global view of all building operations
  • Drill-down capability—via pan and zoom—to any asset or area of interest

Seamless integration was achieved through OPC, which enabled connectivity with multiple industrial devices and control systems via a common interface. This capability gave users the ability to:

  • Visualize cause-and-effect relationships within the terminal
  • React quickly to operational issues
  • Plan confidently with future flexibility in both technical and operational spheres

Future flexibility was a decisive factor during the selection process and a strong driver for Ultra’s and BAA’s choice of Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions as the core of the Building Systems Integration (BSI).

Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal Heathrow Airport’s T5 Terminal

Conclusion

Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions, one of the world’s largest suppliers of controls software front-end packages, clearly demonstrated a defined development path and product roadmap designed to keep GENESIS at the forefront of the market.

For BAA, this assurance meant more than simply selecting a software platform—it meant partnering with a vendor committed to long-term innovation, reliability, and support. With a proven track record of delivering extended lifecycles for mission-critical solutions, Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions provided BAA with the confidence that its Building Systems Integration (BSI) would remain adaptable, sustainable, and aligned with future operational and technological needs.

Case Study Details

BAA and Ultra Electronics Airport Systems brought Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions on board due to several factors, including:

Minimizing Risks

  • Development of standard symbols/properties
  • Consistent Tag structure and display creation
  • Minimum number of interfaces

Meeting Requirements

  • Flexibility in using BSI in an airport terminal
  • Simple maintenance via off the shelf product
  • Complex functionality via point and click

Keeping Pace with Industry Developments

  • Open industry/IT standards (SQL, OPC, OLEDB, XML)
  • Deployment on Microsoft OS and Edge
  • Mobile Device Integration