Where to find a jaw-dropping edifice that opens into a very special lounge.

British Airways’ new $8.5 billion Terminal 5 at Heathrow, nearly 13 years in the making and officially set to open March 27, has been billed as the most advanced in the history of commercial aviation. State-of-the-art check-in and baggage systems promise to eliminate queues. A host of green engineering techniques (rainwater harvesting, use of waste heat from an existing airport power plant) has BA’s PC PR machine humming. Designed by London superstar architect Richard Rogers, the building looks less like an airport terminal than a cross between a glass-domed sports arena and the Pompidou Centre (which Sir Richard also designed). BA has likewise overhauled its entire lounge concept for Terminal 5. It spent $119 million on six business-class-and-above lounges, now called Galleries, which will include three full-service spas, expanded work and computer-access areas, several bars, crystal chandeliers and 100 private bathrooms with showers.

If you really wish to partake of Terminal 5’s upper crust, though, you’ll need to head to the Concorde Room. Open only to first-class passengers and “specially invited guests,” the Concorde Room will be appropriately exclusive, accommodating just 156 people in a terminal that will otherwise be able to process 30 million a year.

Inside, there’s a “boardroom” where the chairs are actual seats taken from the now-grounded Concorde. Three private “cabanas” offer a bathroom, shower, daybed, TV and workstation. There’s a bar and restaurant serving gourmet traditional British comfort food (shepherd’s pie, roast beef, bangers and mash), along with a champagne bar.

But should you find yourself relaxing in the Concorde Room, don’t feel too special. In one corner of Terminal 5, in a location not revealed to the public, resides a “VVIP room.” It’s a lounge just for royals and dignitaries — and by dignitary, they don’t mean managing director at Goldman Sachs.

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