Waterside (building)

Waterside
Waterside
Location within London
General information
Town or city	Harmondsworth
Country	England
Coordinates	51°29′08″N 0°29′10″W / 51.48556°N 0.48611°W / 51.48556; -0.48611Coordinates: 51°29′08″N 0°29′10″W / 51.48556°N 0.48611°W / 51.48556; -0.48611
Construction started	1995
Cost	£200m
Owner	British Airways
Design and construction
Architect	Niels Torp
Services engineer	Cundall Johnston and Partners

The Waterside building in Harmondsworth, London, is the international head office of British Airways; it also houses the operational head office of BA's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG). The building, which cost £200 million, is located on Harmondsworth Moor, northwest of Heathrow Airport, between the M4 and the M25 motorways. Waterside is on the western edge of London, near West Drayton and Uxbridge, in the Borough of Hillingdon

The building is likely to be demolished as part of the controversial construction of a third runway at Heathrow.

British Airways originally submitted a planning application to the London Borough of Hillingdon in 1990 to build what was then called "Prospect Park" on Harmondsworth Moor. This was withdrawn as the airline believed it would be declined on environmental grounds. An alternative plan was drawn up, promising that the moor would be redeveloped and much of the greenspace conserved, which was accepted.

Construction started in September 1995. The project also involved clearing and landscaping the site which was derelict to create a large public park and nature reserve, with a visitor centre. The building was progressively opened between December 1997 and May 1998. The first section of the public park was opened in June 1998, with the remainder in 1999.

The architects were Niels Torp, supported by RHWL. The Building Services Engineers were Cundall, the Structural Engineers Buro Happold, the Construction Managers were Mace and the Landscape Architects were LUC (www.landuse.co.uk).