T2 architect says UK decision to leave EU is ‘really sad’

The Spanish architect who designed Heathrow Airport’s new Terminal 2 building has said a major office headquarters job in London he was working on has been put on hold because of the Brexit vote.

Luis Vidal said the scheme for an undisclosed US-Spanish multinational has been stopped while the client decides whether to look at building it in another European city.

Vidal said: “The client had identified the UK as a neutral spot between the US and Spain. But I’ve been advised they may now relocate [because of the Brexit vote].”

Vidal’s practice, Luis Vidal Architects, had been working on schematic drawings for the project.

 

Luis Vidal

Luis Vidal says he was sad the UK voted to leave and that Brexit will have pros and cons for the country

 

Vidal – who trained in architecture at London’s Greenwich university and was in the city on EU referendum polling day – said Spanish practices had noticed their UK counterparts had “immediately stopped employing European architects” after the vote.

Commenting on the Brexit result, he added: “I was really sad and sorry it happened.”

He said the decision to leave Europe would have pros and cons for the UK. “It’s great for your exports. You could play a kind of hinge between the US and Europe and maybe that will be of more benefit to the UK than being part of Europe.”

But he warned: “On the other hand, I think the UK could potentially lose businesses and even [whole] sectors… The UK may become more isolated.”

He said during his time in London before the vote on June 23 he made sure to ask taxi drivers how they were planning to vote – and was not surprised by Brexit given their answers. “I asked 15 cab drivers and all but the last one said they would vote to exit.”

He also said he was concerned by the rise of populist parties across Europe. “Why are they rising? People are unhappy because the reality is society can’t sustain the current welfare – all the social benefits, the cost of healthcare, unemployment benefits, they are unsustainable.

“Also we are reaching the end of an era of relative full employment which is generating more movement across countries.”

The £2.5 billion T2 building was completed in 2014 and was Vidal’s first UK project.

 

Topics