Working in an airport is never simple. The rules are tight, the timings are rigid and the stakes are high. Every decision has an operational consequence, and any interruption is felt immediately. Our work with Global Exchange at Heathrow brings all of that intensity into focus, condensed into a fast, demanding programme that spans multiple terminals.
The brief appeared straightforward: rebrand the existing foreign exchange kiosks for a new operator. In practice, it meant reworking more than two dozen kiosks across four terminals, both landside and airside, all without disrupting Heathrow’s ability to provide foreign exchange for even a moment. That level of continuity demands speed, clarity and absolute precision — the kind of challenge we lean into.
Global Exchange’s takeover from Travelex unfolded across three key streams of work. The first involved light enabling works to allow Global Exchange to take control of the kiosks quickly, with minimal physical change, ensuring Heathrow never lost foreign exchange coverage. The second stage focused on a deeper rebrand and redesign, refreshing the look and feel and embedding the new brand language into upgraded environments. The third strand introduced entirely new and adapted units, including built-in and standalone kiosks in prime locations, each one designed around Heathrow’s standards, operational priorities and the natural flow of passengers.
Global Exchange is experienced in airports worldwide, but Heathrow is its own ecosystem with unique systems, approval routes and security processes. Heathrow recognised the challenges this causes, which is why they recommended Resident. We were brought in not because we were the cheapest option, but because we understand Heathrow from the inside; its permits, passes, timeframes, stakeholder expectations and the nuanced choreography of delivering work in live terminal environments. The project required a team that could move quickly while maintaining full compliance, coordinate brand and architecture seamlessly, and de-risk a complex programme under intense time pressure.
The heart of the challenge lay in the overnight switchover. Across a series of carefully planned nights, every Travelex kiosk, offices, and ATM had to transition to Global Exchange’s branding, equipment and processes. By the time passengers arrived the next morning, each location needed to be open, operational and unmistakably aligned with the new brand and their procedures. Achieving this meant developing detailed phasing strategies for roughly twenty-eight locations, coordinating teams across all terminals with airside access requirements, securing passes and approvals well ahead of the first night, and making clear decisions about what must happen in this shift and what could only follow in subsequent nights or phases. Our team was on site throughout the phase of construction, resolving issues in real time and keeping the operation moving. It felt less like a fit-out and more like a highly controlled live event.
The project works because the team around it works. Global Exchange brings the brand vision and operational ambition. Heathrow sets the requirements and ensures passenger experience always comes first. Edmont, the contractor, contributes deep practical knowledge of delivering similar transitions at Heathrow. Resident holds those threads together, making sure the design is buildable, compliant and ready for delivery in a setting where mistakes are not an option. Additional technical consultants feed into the process, each one helping shape a design that respects both brand intent and airport reality.
Although it appears to be a rebrand, the project is far more than that. It shows what Resident does best: navigating complex, highly regulated environments, communicating clearly with both international and on-site teams, planning down to the smallest detail and then showing up on the ground to make sure those details are delivered exactly as intended. Airport work is demanding, fast and unforgiving, but it’s also where precision, teamwork and confident decision-making make the biggest difference, and where we do some of our most rewarding work.