This video shows us what Heathrow will look like after it is expanded
After a debate which has gone on for an interminably long time, today Heathrow's third runway was finally given the go-ahead by the government.
But Heathrow – whose third runway was recommended by the Airports Commission in July last year – had already taken the bull by the horns, and hired a concept designer to show the government what their in-fighting was causing the British public to miss out on.
Grimshaw, founded by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw (not that Nicholas Grimshaw), put together "visionary concept designs", showing how the airport will look with a third runway.
Alongside the images it created a video showing what the airport will look like once it has been expanded. The video shows people milling around stores in a futuristic-looking terminal, as planes taxi underneath.
The decision may have come as a blow London mayor, Sadiq Khan, who dealt a blow to Heathrow's campaign over the summer by backing the expansion of Gatwick over Heathrow's third runway.
During a visit to Gatwick, Khan said the airport was the "front door to London for millions of visitors to our city".
For their part, all businesses wanted was a speedy choice.
A letter written in July and signed by the British Chambers of Commerce, the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors and the EEF, urged the government to get on with a decision.
"It is vital that [infrastructure] investments continue, given their outsized impact on jobs, regional growth, and prosperity," the letter read.
The images show people milling around beneath an undulating glass roof (Source: Grimshaw)
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