Interesting points, although I don’t really agree with the SOU analogy as STN was always plugged into the London market. Remember Stansted was the home for AirUK who were more than a bit player, indeed they were a LHR operator to GCI. They had a host of UK and European connections and sold heavily on the Stansted experience to avoid a then truly awful Heathrow. (Mainly because BAA cut back on investment at LHR because the future was all about STN. Anyhoo......)
It was such a shame that a great concept as STN ended up as a loco airfield, although Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 are way more affordable than the AirUK of the 90s.
Back to LHR, noticed Pier 3 has now joined Pier 4 and been demolished. Remote stands 210/209 in use now, T2 Phase 2 will evidently look a lot like T5A!