Airport News

Airport News

Singapore’s newly designed airport will feature a futuristic glass and steel dome with a vast indoor garden and a cascading waterfall.

Rendered images of the future Changi Airport, which was voted theworld’s best airport earlier this year at the World Airport Awards, have been unveiled by the architect behind the £800m ($1.47m) project.

Moshe Safdie, an Israeli/Canadian architect who also designed Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Resort, will be behind the airport's expansion. A giant doughnut-shaped glass and steel dome complex will be built connecting the airport’s existing three terminals via all-glass walkways.

The five-storey structure will be built over the 3.5 hectares car park currently in front of Terminal 1. It will feature a grand indoor garden area with ‘green walls’ to offset carbon emissions from planes flying overhead, as well as a cascading waterfall, a range of retail shops, leisure attractions and a central communal facility. A multi-storey basement car park will help clear more space for the arrival hall, baggage claim and taxi areas.

An official completion date for the building work, which is known as Project Jewel, has yet to be announced but the new structure may be ready by 2018, according to a report by The Straits Times, a Singapore-based daily newspaper, earlier this year.

Changi Airport aims to serve 85 million passengers by the completion of the project and is hoping to “strengthen its position as an international hub” and create “an iconic global attraction” as a result of the new complex.

"We envisage Project Jewel to be a must-visit Singapore attraction, located strategically at the doorstep of one of the world’s busiest air hubs,” said Lee Seow Hiang, the chief executive officer of the Changi Airport Group.

The airport also recently announced plans for Terminal 4, which is set to be completed by 2017. The two-storey building spanning 195,000 square metres (equivalent to the size of 27 football pitches) will be designed to provide a range of automated, self-service options to allow passengers to “whizz through the various touch points in a simple, fast and stress-free manner”.

Changi Airport has around 46.6 million passengers a year and has won more than 390 awards. It has been noted for its aesthetics, but also for its services, including unlimited free WiFi to fliers since 2002. More than 37,000 passengers use the network every day, achieving speeds of “up to 4Mbps”, according to a spokesman for the airport.

The airport’s Terminal 3 was previously noted for its revolutionary “see through” design which incorporates glass and natural light throughout its space, designed to make it easier for passengers to find their way around without using signs.