Located in the heart of the City of London, around 4.5 million passengers a year enjoy a bird’s eye view of many of the capital’s world famous landmarks when flying in to or out of the airport. Pascall+Watson are design team leaders for a constellation of projects known collectively as the City Airport Development Programme, a transformation scheme aimed at providing additional infrastructure and facilities to serve a forecast 6.5 million passengers a year by 2025. The multifaceted project includes the creation of the UK’s first digital air traffic control tower, eight new aircraft stands, new piers, a full-length parallel taxiway and a major extension of the existing terminal which will see it quadruple in size. The site’s tight constraints demand a complex phasing strategy, with high quality temporary facilities required to enable the demolition of existing infrastructure and the construction of new. Our strategic application of the design sequence enables the progressive transformation of the airport whilst allowing it to remain fully operational. The BREEAM rated design sympathetically references the steel shipping age of the Royal Docks and was approved by the local planning authority’s Design Review Panel, who described the scheme as ‘befitting the airport’s prestigious role as a gateway to London and the UK’.