Jewel Changi Airport

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Fulfilling its mission as a connector between the existing terminals, Jewel combines two environments—an intense marketplace and a paradise garden—to create a new community-centric typology as the heart, and soul, of Changi Airport. Jewel weaves together an experience of being in nature with culture and leisure facilities, dramatically asserting the idea of the airport as an uplifting and vibrant urban center, and echoing Singapore’s reputation as “the City in the Garden.”

The publicly accessible 135,700 sqm center includes facilities for landside airport operations, indoor gardens and leisure attractions, retail offerings, restaurants and cafes, and hotel facilities, all under one roof. Directly connected to Terminal 1 and to Terminals 2 and 3 via pedestrian bridges, Jewel engages both in-transit passengers as well as the public at large. Each of the cardinal axes—north, south, east and west—are reinforced by gateway gardens that orient the visitors and offer visual connections between the internal program elements of Jewel and the other airport terminals.

At the heart of Jewel is the Forest Valley, a terraced indoor garden that offers many spatial and interactive experiences featuring walking trails, cascading waterfalls, and quiet seating areas. Amid the more than 200 different species of trees and flora, is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall —a ‘rain vortex’—showering down from an oculus in the domed roof to the Forest Valley garden seven stories below. The waterfall—at peak conditions flowing at more than 10,000 gallons per minute—aids in the cooling of the landscape environment and collects significant rain water to be re-used in an around the building. Surrounding the gardens is a multi-level retail marketplace on five levels that access the garden via a series of vertical canyons.

The geometry of Jewel is based on a semi-inverted toroidal dome roof. Measuring 200 meters across at the longest span, and supported only intermittently along the rim of the garden, the integrated structure and façade system allows for a near column free interior.

Achieving a level of comfort for the diversity of activities, as well as to sustain the vast array of plant life within adequate sunlight, required an integrated system of glazing, static and dynamic shading, and an innovative and efficient displacement ventilation system. Jewel is slated to receive Singapore’s GreenMark Platinum status.

On the fifth level is the Canopy Park, which includes 14,000 sqm of attractions integrated within the garden spaces. These include net structures suspended within the trees, a suspended catenary glass-bottom bridge walk, a planted hedge maze and mirror maze, and feature installations completed in collaboration with internationally acclaimed artists. Additional features include a topiary walk, horticultural displays, and an event plaza for 1,000 people.

With Jewel, the airport has become a destination in its own right.

The Design and Architecture Vision

Jewel Changi Airport (Jewel) is an iconic landmark on the Singapore skyline, designed as an extension of Singapore’s reputation of being a City in a Garden.

Mr Moshe Safdie, Principal, Safdie Architects, said, “Jewel Changi Airport juxtaposes the centre of being in nature and enjoying a vibrant marketplace, dramatically extending the concept of airport to serve as an urban centre, engaging travellers, visitors, and residents; echoing Singapore’s reputation as ‘The City in the Garden’.

“Jewel demonstrates the potential for urban centres that offer the vitality of the traditional city square or galleria within a park setting. The Jewel toroidal inverse dome creates a new kind of spatial experience, a daylit vast landscaped garden, combined with seven levels of shopping and airport facilities. Light penetrates everywhere, while the roof drains through the dome to create a dramatic waterfall, dropping seven storeys to the lowest building level. As an integrated whole it creates a new typology – transforming the airport’s principal function as a transit hub into that of an interactive civic and urban centre.”

The Design and Architecture Team

Mr Ashith Alva, Head of Projects, Jewel Changi Airport Devt, said, “Our goal in designing Jewel was to house a myriad of experiences all under one roof and provide a seamless travel experience for the millions of people that pass through Changi Airport each year. To achieve this ambitious project, we brought together a collective of visionaries and experts.”

A consortium led by Safdie Architects, helmed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, developed the design of Jewel. The team at Safdie Architects is known for its research-oriented practice that has generated innovative designs of contemporary commercial, residential and civic spaces around the globe. Consortium partners RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, BuroHappold Engineering, Lighting Planners Associates and Benoy lent expertise on other aspects of Jewel’s design, including the façade, lighting and interior design.

Highlights of Jewel’s Design and Architecture

Construction broke ground in December 2014, and all structural works were completed in 2017. The following are some key features of this architectural marvel.

• Façade: The dome-shaped roof façade is a contiguous grid shell supported by a ring of 14 tree-like columns and a ring beam at the edge of the roof. The special high-performance architectural glass material used in the façade has the dual ability of transmitting light and reducing heat gain, thus enabling plant growth in the indoor gardens while providing sustainable cooling. Each glass panel also has a 16 mm air gap to insulate against noise emitted from aircraft and ensure that noise levels within the building are kept to a minimum. Likewise, a series of tests and research were conducted to ensure that the glare emitted off the glass surface will not interfere with the daily operations of air traffic controllers as well as aircraft that are approaching the two runways at Changi Airport.

• Connector: Based on the geometry of a torus, Jewel is designed as a central connector between the airport terminals at Changi Airport. Jewel is directly accessible from the Terminal 1 Arrival Hall and linked to Terminal 2 and 3 via link bridges.

• HSBC Rain Vortex: At the apex of the glass roof is an oculus that showers water down to the centre of the building, creating the HSBC Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. Rainwater is funnelled into the waterfall and harvested for landscape irrigation systems.

• Shiseido Forest Valley: The Shiseido Forest Valley is a terraced garden attraction that offers many spatial and interactive experiences for visitors, including walking trails, cascading waterfalls, and quiet seating areas. Surrounding the gardens is a retail marketplace across five levels, which is accessible to and from the Shiseido Forest Valley through a series of vertical canyons. Two nature trails meander through the gardens, climbing 30 vertical metres from bottom to top.

• Canopy Park: On the fifth level of Jewel is the Canopy Park, which includes 14,000 sqm of attractions integrated within the garden spaces. On the northern side of the park is the Cloud9 Piazza, an event plaza space large enough to serve 1,000 people.

Project Credits
Project: Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore
Developer: Jewel Changi Airport Development (a joint venture between Changi Airport Group and CapitaLand)
Architect: Safdie Architects, Boston. Lead designer: Moshe Safdie, FAIA; principals: Jaron Lubin, Assoc. AIA, Charu Kokate, Greg Reaves; project team: David Foxe, Seunghyun Kim, Benjy Lee, Dan Lee, Peter Morgan, Reihaneh Ramezany, Laura Rushfeldt, AIA, Isaac Safdie, Damon Sidel, AIA, Temple Simpson, Lee Hua Tan, Andrew Tulen.
Environmental & Sustainable Design: Atelier Ten
Retail Interiors: Benoy
Executive Landscape Architect: ICN International Singapore
Lighting Design: Lighting Planners Associates
M/E/P: Mott MacDonald
Signage/Wayfinding: Pentagram and Entro Communications
Landscape Design: PWP Landscape Architecture
Executive Architect: RSP Architects Planners & Engineers
Structure: RSP Architects Planners & Engineers
WET Design: Water Feature
Size: 1,460,662 square feet