I’m just off to the airport for a holiday
And that’s a holiday without ever taking off. In the ongoing pursuit to appeal to travellers, Singapore's new Jewel Changi Airport is a gold star destination in itself.
Design by Safdie Architects
From the architects:
Jewel Changi Airport re-imagines the centre of an airport as a major public realm attraction. Jewel offers a range of facilities for landside airport operations, indoor gardens and leisure attractions, retail offerings and hotel facilities, all under one roof. A distinctive dome-shaped façade made of glass and steel adds to Changi Airport's appeal as one of the world's leading air hubs.
"Jewel weaves together an experience of nature and the marketplace, dramatically asserting the idea of the airport as an uplifting and vibrant urban centre, engaging travellers, visitors and residents, and echoing Singapore’s reputation as ‘The City in the Garden’."
Based on the geometry of a torus, the building is designed as a new central connector between the existing airport terminals at Singapore Changi Airport. At its core is the Forest Valley, a terraced garden attraction that offers many spatial and interactive experiences for visitors. The Forest Valley also includes walking trails, cascading waterfalls, and quiet seating areas. Surrounding the gardens is a multi-level retail marketplace on five levels, which features access to the garden via a series of vertical canyons.
At the apex of Jewel’s glass roof is an oculus that showers water down to the centre of the building. The Rain Vortex is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, transforming into a light and sound show in the evening. During the region’s frequent and powerful thunderstorms, recirculated, natural rainwater will flow at more than 10,000 gallons per minute, which helps provide cooling and airflow in the landscape environment, collecting significant rainwater to be re-used in the building.
Conceived to serve the people of Singapore and travellers equally, the building is directly connected to the Changi Bus Terminal and the airport’s Terminal 1. It is also accessible from Terminals 2 and 3 via pedestrian bridges, and the inter-terminal train crosses through the gardens, giving visitors with limited time a glimpse into the Forest Valley.
Jewel is slated to receive Singapore’s GreenMark Platinum status. The building’s efficient displacement ventilation system regulates the thermal comfort for occupants as well as the vast array of interior planting within.
Story by: Trendsideas
Photography by: Darren Soh
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