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Published: 17/03/2008 - Filed under: Archive » 2008 » April 2008 » Guide to T5 »

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Guide to T5: Lounges

The six new lounges at T5 will have capacity for 2,500 passengers – a 25 per cent increase on those at Terminals 1 and 4. Once through security, premium passengers head upstairs towards one of three main lounges (the other three being the short-haul departures lounge, the satellite lounge in T5B, and the Arrivals lounge).

BA has commissioned several artworks for the new lounges, with a constantly changing piece entitled Cloud hanging above the main escalators to the galleries. The five metre-long installation uses similar technology to “flip-dot” information boards at railways stations to create a wave-like appearance on its surface.

The upper level houses the Galleries Club lounge for Club World, Club Europe, gold and silver executive club members, while one floor down on the Pavilion level, is the Galleries First lounge for first class customers and gold executive club members, along with the Concorde Room for first class passengers and “specially invited guests”. An Elemis Travel Spa, open to first and Club World passengers, as well as gold card holders on long-haul flights, is also located on this floor.

GALLERIES CLUB LOUNGE

This is the largest of the new lounges, with space for 830 passengers. Features include two Silver bars with Swarovski crystal chandeliers, fabrics by Osborne and Little, and a cinema, which will be used to show sporting events. There is wifi access provided by BT Openzone throughout T5, and this is free in the new BA lounges.

In keeping with the “silent airport” policy at the new terminal, flights are not called from any of the lounges (it would after all get a little tedious to constantly hear “BA flight XX is now ready for boarding”), but as a result there is an increased number of departure boards to inform passengers.

GALLERIES FIRST LOUNGE

Go down to the Pavilion level and you’ll find a huge “electroluminescent art wall” entitled All the Time in the World – a digital display showing world time zones on a striking blue background. To the left, passengers are welcomed into the Galleries First lounge by a curious talking point – two huge black horses with lampshades on their heads, several more of which are dotted around the other galleries. This section has 540 seats, wooden floors, a terrace area, a Gold bar and Champagne bar complete with Swarovski crystal “bubbles” overhead. It also houses several more works of art including Oak Seasons, a series of 3D laser-etched screens showing the growing cycle of the English oak tree, complete with “hidden” details including a leaf transformed into a road map of the UK.

CONCORDE ROOM

The plush Concorde Room accommodates up to 156 first class passengers and has a restaurant with privacy booths, digital imitation “fires”, a boardroom with genuine Concorde seats, a terrace area, and three relaxation “cabanas”, bookable up to two weeks in advance. Artwork here includes Pegasus and the Winged Lion – created to look like a stone carving of British Airways’ crest, it is in fact a slowly moving digital display bringing the mythical characters to life.

Next door, the Elemis Spa promises facilities including massage chairs, “flying facials” and “cooling hot-stone therapies”, as well as 20 showers for travellers.

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