A giant waterfall and indoor gardens by Safdie Architects are almost complete at the new Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore which is officially set to open on April 17, 2019. 

Called Jewel Changi Airport, the new photographs show the vegetation and the general structure of the waterfall has been completed inside, the airport aims to uplift the traditional airport design by creating a vibrant urban center, engaging travelers, visitors, and residents in a much more attracting way.

Image © Charu Kokate

Jewel Changi Airport combines an intense marketplace and a paradise garden to create a new center – "the heart and soul" of Changi Airport. Once open, Jewel will establish a new paradigm for community-centric airport design, extending the airport’s principal function as a transit hub to create an interactive civic plaza and marketplace, combining landside airport operations with expansive indoor gardens and waterfall leisure facilities, retail, restaurants, and a hotel as well as other spaces for community activities.

Image courtesy of Safdie Architects 

The project is linked to the city’s public transportation grid and with open access to Terminal 1, and to Terminal 2 and 3 via pedestrian bridges, Jewel engages both in-transit passengers as well as the public of Singapore. 

The airport will entirely be publicly accessible, the 134,000-square-meter glass-enclosed toroidal building asserts a new model for airports as a destination for community activity, entertainment, and shopping.

Image © Charu Kokate

The world’s tallest indoor waterfall, named The Rain Vortex, showers down seven stories from a central open oculus in the domed roof, compelling visitors with dramatic cascades during the day and performance light and projection experiences by night. 

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.

Image courtesy of Safdie Architects

"Jewel presents a new building prototype for connecting the city and the airport," said Jaron Lubin, Principal at Safdie Architects. "Like an Ancient Greek ‘agora,’ it aligns social and commercial values to create an animated public realm destination."

"Jewel weaves together an experience of nature and the marketplace, dramatically asserting the idea of the airport as an uplifting and vibrant urban center, engaging travelers, visitors, and residents, and echoing Singapore’s reputation as ‘The City in the Garden," said Moshe Safdie. 

On the fifth level, there will be a Canopy Park, which includes 14,000 square meters of attractions integrated within the garden spaces. The highly immersive features are designed to be both aesthetic and functional, providing pathways for traversing the space while delighting visitors with gorgeous sightlines, providing spaces for interaction and community building, and creating a sense of wonder and discovery.

Image courtesy of Safdie Architects

Safdie Architects is closely working with international team for the project, the engineering structure of the project is being realized by BuroHappold, the building’s complex façade systems are designed by Atelier Ten, while singapore-based firm RSP is working on the project as Executive Architect. 

Landscape design of the airport is designed by PWP Landscape Architecture. The interior creates a multi-sensory experience of nature within a climate-controlled glass dome. 

Image courtesy of Safdie Architects

An eight-acre garden over interior retail space integrates unexpected features that will attract adventurers of all ages. Gardens terrace down nearly 30 meters to a central gathering space with informal amphitheater seating. 

Restaurants and cafes as well as an event plaza can all be accessed from within the garden. Visitors can experience a light and water show at the center of the building, where water and captured rain fall from the roof becoming a projection screen.

Image courtesy of Safdie Architects

Project facts

Project name: jewel changi airport
Client: jewel changi airport trustee pte ltd
Location: changi airport, singapore
Building area: 134,000 sqm
Program: airport operations, indoor gardens, leisure attractions, retail offerings, hotel facilities
Design architect: safdie architects
Project design: moshe safdie
Project principals: jaron lubin, charu kokate, greg reaves
Design team: david foxe, seunghyun kim, benjy lee, dan lee, reihaneh ramezany, laura rushfeldt, isaac safdie, damon sidel, temple simpson, andrew tulen
Executive architect: RSP architects planners & engineers pte ltd
Landscape design: PWP landscape architecture
Executive landscape architect: ICN international singapore
Structure: RSP architects planners & engineers pte ltd
Façades: buro happold
Engineering ESD: atelier ten
MEP: mott macdonald
Signage/wayfinding: pentagram and entro communications
Retail interiors: benoy
Water feature: WET design
Lighting: lighting planners associates

Top image courtesy of Peter Walker Partners Landscape

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