{{Short description|Office building in London Heathrow Airport}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Use British English|date=May 2013}} thumb|Compass Centre [[File:Compass Centre, British Airways, Heathrow - geograph.org.uk - 137588.jpg|thumb|The Compass Centre, when it was a British Airways facility]] '''Compass Centre''' is an office building on the grounds of Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The building serves as Heathrow Airport Holdings's head office.<ref>{{cite web|title=Contact us|url=http://www.heathrowairport.com/help/contact-us|publisher=Heathrow Airport Holdings|accessdate=12 February 2015|archive-date=3 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003090812/http://www.heathrowairport.com/help/contact-us|url-status=dead}}</ref> Compass Centre previously served as a British Airways flight crew centre.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20060303141450/http://www.britishairwaysjobs.com/baweb1/?newms=info41 BA Recruitment]." British Airways. 3 March 2006. Retrieved 2 October 2010.</ref>
==History== The Compass Centre was originally conceived as speculative offices for Lynton plc, which was the property development division of Heathrow Airport Limited. British Airways was a prospective but not necessarily a sole tenant. The airline decided to consolidate its scattered operations into the Compass Centre.<ref name="McGuire1">Northerly approach – British Airways PLC's Compass Center at the Heathrow Airport ''Architectural Review'' March 1995</ref> In August 1992 on-site construction began. The building was completed 15 months later.<ref name="Grimshaw">"[http://www.grimshaw-architects.com/base.php?in_projectid= Combined Operations Centre (Compass House)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929035116/http://www.grimshaw-architects.com/base.php?in_projectid= |date=29 September 2010 }}." Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners. Retrieved 2 October 2010.</ref>
When Heathrow Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008, British Airways staff, including crew check-in staff, relocated from the Compass Centre to Terminal 5.<ref>Paylor, Anne. "[http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/article/t5-prepares-go-live-0309 T5 Prepares to Go Live]." ''Air Transport World''. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2010.</ref> A refurbishment of the head office was completed in September 2009, after Heathrow Airport Limited (then BAA) moved into the building.<ref>"[http://www.graphicis.co.uk/project_baa.html Project: BAA Compass Centre] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516160433/http://www.graphicis.co.uk/project_baa.html |date=16 May 2011 }}." Graphic Image Solutions Ltd. Retrieved 2 October 2010.</ref>
On 5 March 2019, an explosive package was mailed to Compass Centre which ignited upon opening. No-one was injured in the attack. The package, one of three sent at the same time to Heathrow Airport, London City Airport and Waterloo station, was believed to have originated from Ireland. Compass Centre was evacuated for the day but reopened the following morning.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explosive packages found at Heathrow, Waterloo and London City Airport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47457477 |date=March 5, 2019 |access-date=November 25, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
==Location and design== The Compass Centre was designed by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, which designed the core, external works, and shell of the building. Compass Centre is alongside but slightly askew from Heathrow's northern runway, with the Northern Perimeter Road, T5 Long Stay car park and Compass Centre car park between the runway and the Compass Centre. In 1995 Penny McGuire of ''The Architectural Review'' said that "Its shining glass and bright blue clad exterior reminds you, particularly when seen glowing at night, that one of the largest and busiest airports in the world is otherwise encumbered with a really grim collection of buildings. Decent ones are a rare sight around here."<ref name="McGuire1"/> It was designed to house up to 800 British Airways employees. British Airways wanted a large, on-airport facility close to its operations, so it decided to use the Compass Centre.<ref name="Grimshaw"/>
Compass Centre consists of a linear arrangement of three connected blocks; East, Meridian (placed in the middle) and West, with Meridian slightly larger than the other two. Each block has three floors and is split again into North and South sides, with Meridian having a glass atrium. The arrangement provides a claimed {{convert|200,000|ft2|m2}} of office space.
The design stems from a client's request for a building that could be easily divided between tenants.<ref name="McGuire1"/> The building can accommodate sub-letting and flexibility involving several tenants.<ref name="Grimshaw"/> Reinforced concrete was used to construct the structural frame due to economy, fire resistance, and speed. The frame has a raked roof slab and circular columns. Glass was the primary material used to construct the shell,<ref name="McGuire1"/> because glass has little radar interference,<ref name="Grimshaw"/> and in the words of McGuire, can be "acoustically efficient."<ref name="McGuire1"/> The design limits heat gain and solar glare, and the building environment is sound-proofed.<ref name="Grimshaw"/>
The British Council for Offices awarded the building the "Best Delivered Workplace."<ref name="Grimshaw"/> In 2008, ownership passed from BAA to Arora Group, and in 2021, it was sold to Prologis.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.colliers.com/en-gb/news/13-12-21-prologis-acquires-compass-centre-at-heathrow-from-the-arora-group |date=2021-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213165124/https://www.colliers.com/en-gb/news/13-12-21-prologis-acquires-compass-centre-at-heathrow-from-the-arora-group |archive-date=2021-12-13 |title=Colliers advises on sale of Compass Centre at Heathrow for Arora Group |url-status=live |website=Colliers}}</ref>
==Facilities==
The building has its own restaurant on the first floor of the West Block, and a Caffe Nero concession on the Meridian ground floor under the glass atrium. The Meridian ground floor also houses a visitors suite with a number of meeting rooms secured separately to the staff-only access of the rest of the building. The ground floor of West block is normally used as a training centre with its own entrance and reception. During the COVID-19 pandemic, West Block was reconfigured for the vaccination rollout, handling more than 100,000 people in less than 2 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/news/sun-sets-over-heathrow-vaccination-centre-we-are-reminded-all-we-have-achieved|title="As the sun sets over Heathrow Vaccination Centre, we are reminded of all we have achieved" :: Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust|website=www.cnwl.nhs.uk|accessdate=30 April 2023}}</ref>
Compass Centre also hosts Heathrow Airport's Operation Centre (second floor, East Block). Opened in 2014, it hosts all the key functions of the airport (Security, Engineering, Police, Fire, IT etc.) in one place, along with a video wall containing 60 flatscreen panels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aviationtoday.com/2014/12/24/heathrow-opens-apoc-to-monitor-operations/|title=Heathrow Opens APOC to Monitor Operations|date=24 December 2014|website=Avionics International|accessdate=30 April 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|London|Architecture}} {{commons category-inline}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100929035116/http://www.grimshaw-architects.com/base.php?in_projectid= Website of] Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners – Includes a profile of the building {{Heathrow Airport|state=collapsed}} {{coord|51.4809|-0.4689|type:landmark_region:GB-HIL|display=title}}
Category:Airline company headquarters in the United Kingdom Category:British Airways Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hillingdon Category:Buildings and structures at Heathrow Airport Category:Nicholas Grimshaw buildings Category:Office buildings completed in 1993 Category:1993 establishments in England