W1The design of the new terminal complex: London's third airport at Stansted

'Airports should be tranquil places, simple to understand, and easy to use', stresses Norman Foster. 'Calm, clarity and convenience are the key words.' These words summarise the challenge to Foster Associates in their design for the new terminal at Stansted being developed to service London and the south East's future air traffic,

1. Now being constructed in Essex 32 miles north east of London, the new international airport facilities at stansted will have capacity for seven to eight million passengers a year when it opens in late 1990. as part of BAA pic's network of airports in the United Kingoom, the Stansted development enjoys the two-fold advantage of BAA pic's expertise in the field of airport planning and starting with a green-field site. The site provided the opportunity to reconsider the configuration of an airport terminal from first principles, free from many constraints that face the majority of terminal buildings constructed today within existing terminal complexes.