BAA, London Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5 Project
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Systems Integrator, Tier 1 Supplier
Ultra was awarded the contract to perform as Systems Integrator for this prestigious project in 2000. At first a small group was installed within the BAA team at the planning stage, and this has expanded to over 40 people at the peak of project requirements. Terminal 5 is scheduled to open in March 2008.
London Heathrow Airport is the busiest international airport in the world, currently serving nearly 70 million passengers per year. Terminal 5 is planned to have a capacity of over 30 million passengers per year. It comprises a main building, linked to car parks and transport links, with two satellites. Passengers are transported to the satellites via a tracked transit system. The terminal has a very small footprint compared to conventional modern terminal buildings and this poses particular architectural and structural challenges.
The Terminal 5 project is unique within the construction industry as it is based on a full partnership approach between BAA and its first tier suppliers. Ultra employees work within the BAA teams and all parties share common agreed goals. This is becoming an extremely successful partnership model and has brought huge benefits to BAA and its partners. The Terminal 5 project, the largest construction project in Europe, is currently running on time and to budget - a stunning achievement.
Scope of Supply
Ultra's scope as First Tier supplier for Systems Integration within the Systems Team covers a wide variety of functions, divided into a number of separate workstreams.
Enterprise Application Integration and Airport Operational Systems
Ultra is responsible for the integration of key IT systems within the new terminal, which are partly provided by the existing IT infrastructure within Heathrow Airport itself. Ultra is supplying an Integration Broker solution, which ensures that the variety of IT systems is able to communicate in a loosely coupled, service oriented architecture. The information distribution services provided by the Integration Broker can be reused by multiple systems, so that the number of separate interface designs is minimised and costs reduced. This strategy requires systems to interface to each other via the information broker using standards-based messaging technology, independent of system supplier or architecture. It is therefore straightforward to replace obsolete systems without having to unravel the whole systems architecture, or having to keep an unwanted legacy system simply so that other systems will work.
Integrated Test Facility (ITF)
All systems to be installed in the new terminal must have been already in use in an airport environment, and also will be tested in the off-site ITF, to prove that they can be integrated safely. The design and build of the ITF is under Ultra control and Ultra has specified the testing strategy for the systems under control. This is a significant factor in the timely and low-risk delivery of IT systems.
Building Systems Integration (BSI)
The new terminal is designed to be an integrated facility, monitored through a central Terminal Service Centre (TSC) with mobile devices provided to staff. Ultra is responsible for the design and fit-out of the TSC, including its ergonomic design and human factors analysis. A common user interface allows staff to access heating, ventilation, lighting, fire, lifts, CCTV, security and other systems, centralising alarm management and automating interaction between systems. UltraBSI is based on an off-the-shelf SCADA product using open industry standards to safeguard for future expansion and integration.
Utilities Integration
Airfield and terminal installations are controlled and monitored by existing Heathrow Airport systems. Ultra is responsible for the installation of control and monitoring equipment for electrical sub stations, water monitoring and other aspects, and their connection to the existing SCADA system.
Airport Operational Systems (AOS)
Ultra's scope is to capture requirements and manage the implementation of BAA's AOS Strategy at T5
Information and Displays
Ultra is responsible for the design and installation of the new display features in the terminal and their conformation to BAA Wayfinding Standards and to legal display requirements.
Risk & Opportunity
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Ultra have had a number of key successes in working on Terminal 5 and these have helped in mitigating some of the key risks on the project.
- Working with BAA and other teams Ultra has established a partnership approach to project delivery
- Ultra have led the selection of two key products for T5, working closely with BAA to ensure the solutions meet with BAA long term aspirations and the requirements for the project
- Ultra's first mitigation exercise was to produce a System Integration Strategy. This set the policy for the project and provided a framework with which to govern technology on the project. Its broad principles included:
- Use of industry standards for interfacing
- Use of proven and mature technology
- Ensuring that systems are loosely coupled
- The integration risks have been significantly reduced by the Interface Test Facility. This, along with the associated processes, has forced all teams to bring their systems to the facility to carry out early testing
- A significant exercise in requirement capture was carried out early in the project, to mitigate the risk of late changes in requirements.
