Ordinary Meeting A paper to be presented and discussed at the Institution of Structural Engineers, I I Upper Belgrave Street, London S WIX 8BH, on Thursday I December 1988, at 6.0 pm. The design of the structure for the new terminal building at Stansted Airport G. J. Zum, BSc, FEng, FIStructE, FICE Ove h p & Partners M. W. Manning, MA, CEng,MIStructE Ove Amp & Partners c. G. H. Jofeh, BSc, CEng, MIStructE Ove Amps & Partners Jack Zunz graduated in 1948 after militaty service in Egypt and Italy. He joined Ove Arup in 1950 and Partner in 1965. He has been associated with many was made an Associate Partner in 1955 and a Senior of the firm ’S projects in the UK and abroad. Martin Manning is a Director of Ove Amp & Partners and the leader of BuildingEngineering Group 4. He joined Arup after graduatingfrom St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1968. He has worked in London, Zambia, and Iran and on projects Director for the Stansted Terminal since 1981. throughout the world. He has been the Project Partners California. He joined Arups after Christopher Jofeh is a Principal of Ove Arup & graduating from Imperial College in 1972 and has worked in London, Europ, the Middle East, and the since 1983, with special responsibility for the USA. He has been involved with the Stanstedproject steelwork. Synopsis The development of Stansted Airport is now well advanced. In particular, the comtruction of the primary structure for the terminal building is nearly complete. This paper describes the development of the structural design and its architectural background. Introduction In 1942 the United States Air Force built a military airfield at Stansted, north-west Essex, for World War 2 bomber operations. After the war, use Fig 1. Stansted Airport of the base continued as a civilian aerodrome, but in 1952 the USAF returned and extended the runway. In the following year, the British Government decided that London’s main airport should be Heathrow, with Gatwick as the main alternative and Blackbushe the fist reserve. A notional role for Stansted was retained, however, inthe event of unexpected increases in air traffic. The USAF finally withdrew in 1957, and 4 years later an interdepartmental Government Committee was set up to look into future airport provision. In 1964 it reportedthat notonly would a third London airport be needed by 1973, but Stansted was the only oneof 18 sites that was clearly suitable. A public inquiry into Stansted’s development opened the following year, which dulyturned down the proposal and recommended a much wider review. As a result, the Roskill Commission began its public inquiry into both the need for, and the siting of, a third London airport, eventually shortlisting Cublington, Foulness, Nuthampstead, and Thurleigh. Stansted was discarded as an altenative, and Cublington selected. Professor Colin Buchanan, however, favoured Foulness,and following his lead the Maplin DevelopmentAuthority was set up in 1973 to reclaim Maplin Sands off Foulness Island as both an airport and seaport. In 1974 the new Labour Government reviewed Maplin and speedily cancelled the project, taking into account both the oil crisis and the increased use of widebodied aircraft. After only 2 years, however, the Government began to look again at airport strategy and in 1978 produced a White Paper which argued that further capacity would have to be found by 1990. During the ‘60s Stansted had increased its capacity greatly. By 1968, when The Structural EngineedVolume 66/No.21/1 November 1988 361
