Pascall+Watson were appointed by Harlow College and Stansted Airport to design and deliver a 2,100m² new build Professional Training and Skills Centre for the newly established Stansted Airport College. The project combines our expertise in the education and aviation sectors and our 30-year relationship with the airport. 

Situated landside to the south of the Stansted Airport runway, the 2-storey building includes state-of-the-art teaching spaces, skills and productions kitchens, administration space, a large engineering workshop as well as outdoor spaces for ground crew training.  

The college will welcome more than 500 students each year and offers courses designed to bridge the skills gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects between NVQ level 3 

and 5, as well as specific airport areas such as aircraft and airport engineering, business studies, logistics and supply chain management, asset management, hospitality and customer service. 

The ambition of the college is to develop a constant pool of talented students looking for careers at the airport or in the wider aviation industry. The centre focuses on areas that match broader and growing skill needs of the airport and will benefit from the airport’s future growth.  

The project secured £3.5m funding from the Government’s Local Growth Fund and aims to revitalise the local economy by boosting apprenticeships, employment and skills for local residents. 

The end product carefully manages the intricacies of the building’s proximity to the runway and acoustic considerations of the project and was designed to a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ standard,