Mace has officially won a £140m job to deliver a 180-metre extension to a pier at London Gatwick, it has been announced.
The Pier 6 deal will see the contractor deliver eight aircraft gates next to the airport’s runways.
A statement from the airport said the changes would help give passengers a “seamless experience” at the Sussex transport hub.
The new gates will remove the need to use apron buses to transfer more than 500,000 passengers to remote stands.
Once completed, the pier extension will save 12,000 bus journeys a year from 2027, according to Gatwick.
As well as extending the pier, Mace will reconfigure 35 metres of existing floorspace in the existing pier. The total length of the facility will increase to 415 metres.
Mace was the original contractor for Pier 6 in 2005, as well as for the 197-metre bridge connecting the pier to Gatwick’s North Terminal.
The airport said minimising the environmental footprint was a key priority for the new project, which will be delivered to BREEAM Excellent (overall) and Outstanding (energy and water) standards.
The new-look pier will contain a hybrid steel and timber frame. Solar panels will be installed on the building, and it is set to be heated and cooled by a variable refrigerant flow system – said to be more sustainable than a heat pump.
Groundworks contractor PJ Hegarty is carrying out enabling works and Mace has been on site since January.
Mace joined up with WSP and Pascall+Watson to develop the engineering and architectural design of the Pier 6 extension.
London Gatwick chief technical officer Cédric Laurier said: “This build is complex as it’s right in the heart of our airfield, but we’re experienced in delivering major projects in challenging environments at London Gatwick.
“The partnership and experience from Mace will be invaluable. Our teams are already working side by side.”
Nigel Cole, managing director for infrastructure at Mace Construction, said: “Having built the original Pier 6 and link bridge, we know that working in a busy operating environment takes thorough planning and specialist experience, and this latest appointment sits alongside our existing projects within the baggage halls to provide new employment opportunities throughout the supply chain.”
The airport previously announced a project to extend Pier 6 in 2017 and appointed Bechtel to carry out the work.
However, its entire capital programme was deferred indefinitely in 2020 during the Covid pandemic shutdown of global leisure travel.
Earlier this month, the government signalled it would back the proposed £2.2bn privately funded creation of a second runway at Gatwick.
A final decision is due in October.
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Ian Weinfass