Hoarding keeps Leeds Bradford Airport operational during extensive refurbishment

Temporary hoarding for a live airport refurbishment

Leeds Bradford Airport is currently undergoing a £100m+ investment. The project, known as LBA: Regen, is the first major upgrade to Leeds Bradford Airport’s terminal since it opened in 1968. Once complete, the airport will have 38% more floorspace, 76% more retail space, 83% more seating, 77% more baggage reclaim belt capacity and 50% more security lanes.

The huge transformation project was split into two main phases. Phase 1, a new 9,500 m² terminal extension with new restaurants, lounges, baggage reclaim and passport control, was built largely separately from the existing terminal and opened in June 2025. 

Phase 2 is the £65m refurbishment and extension of the existing terminal. New security, arrivals, shops, bars and restaurants, and new stairs, lifts and escalators are all being created inside a working building, right alongside live passenger areas. With around 18,000 passengers passing through every day, main contractor Farrans had to keep the airport operating as close to normal as possible. It broke the works into stages, stripping the old terminal back layer by layer while keeping every airport system, from fire alarms to building services, live.

Keeping the airport operational required temporary hoarding that put passenger safety first, kept works areas securely separated, and supported compliance. It had to withstand crowd loading, fit the tight corners of a 1960s building, keep demolition dust on the construction side and add nothing to the fire risk. The phased works meant that the hoarding needed to withstand being moved as the project evolved.

An engineered hoarding solution: Passenger safety, fire-load and dust control

Having worked with Farrans on a £400m airport transformation in Bristol, Westgate Global was invited to the site to conduct a full site survey. The team specified Hoardfast Firescreen, a steel-faced, mineral wool-filled composite hoarding panel, with a 60-minute (EI60) fire rating.

The 150 metre-long hoarding was crowd-loaded to 7.4 kilonewtons per metre at a height of 1.2 metres, creating safe passenger corridors that could withstand knocks, bumps, and pressure in busy areas.

The panels connect using a tongue-and-groove push-fit system. In addition to making them quick to mount and demount, the design created a secure, dust-tight seal that protected passengers from construction dust and disruption. Where dust was especially critical, the team ran sheeting from floor to ceiling.

Reusability, security, and project agility

No two areas were quite the same. While much of the hoarding was installed using concrete ballasts on the construction side, the team adapted the specification to suit the older building. In tight spots where a freestanding system wouldn’t fit, they clamped the hoarding to existing handrails, minimising its footprint without compromising protection.

With hundreds of operatives working just the other side of the hoarding from passengers, security was vital. The steel-faced panels rose above passengers’ reach, with fine mesh netting running up to the soffit so that nothing could be passed or dropped from one side to the other.

On the passenger side, the panels have a smooth, clean white finish that is ideal for vinyl, giving the airport a blank canvas for its own signage and graphics. Once branded, the hoarding can pass for a permanent wall, so that travellers see a clean, professional finish instead of a building site.

The modular, relocatable panels were also key to Farrans’ phased approach. As each stage was completed, the hoarding was quickly dismantled and moved on to the next, with runs of up to 150 m at a time, reducing cost and waste across the project.

A safe, compliant divide

Throughout Phase 2, passengers at Leeds Bradford Airport have continued to move safely past extensive construction works, with the hoarding providing a safe, compliant divide between the live airport and the site at every stage.

Because the same system has moved with the works from one stage to the next, the airport has avoided the cost and waste of buying new hoarding for each phase. The fast-fit design ensured the hoarding’s installation and relocation didn’t impact the project schedule. In an airport environment, where plans can change at short notice, Westgate Global’s extensive sector experience meant the team mobilised quickly and adapted as the airport’s needs evolved.