Singapore Changi Airport is described as a green paradise, which has become a favorite of tourism centers rather than a transit area. It is Singapore’s largest international airport and is also among the largest in Southeast Asia. It started to serve in 1981 and today offers flight service to 300 destinations in approximately 80 countries. Changi Airport is positioned as an important connection hub with an average of 6,500 aircraft landing and taking off per week. It hosted 54.1 million passengers in 2014. Singapore Changi Airport has won the world’s best airport award 7 times with its art centres, butterfly park, cactus garden, cinemas and waterfalls.
Jewel Changi Airport, with its interiors, plants, water elements and show pools that offer a unique experience to its visitors, shows how design and technology can be compatible. Thus, while making people’s lives easier, it also aims to create an environment in harmony with nature. Jewel Changi Airport is one of the important and unforgettable works of the 21st century in terms of showing how impressive design can be created by today’s technological possibilities. Changi Airport has a structure that aims to meet the needs of passengers around the world. With its art centers, butterfly park, cactus garden, cinemas and forests, the airport offers an idyllic environment that distracts passengers from monotonous air travel.
Amazing Features of Singapore Changi Airport
The airport has 4 terminals for tourism and commercial purposes and its total area is 70 thousand square meters. The airport is a central airport connecting east and west of Asia. With its privileged location, this airport offers an unforgettable travel experience. Terminals 1, 2 and 3 at the airport are directly connected by pedestrian bridges, serving both transit passengers and the general public. The walkway gardens that guide visitors and the entertainment and need-filled program elements inside Jewel reinforce the visual connections between airport terminals.
Part of the natural environment at Jewel Changi Airport Terminal is an indoor garden called Forest Valley. The garden consists of hiking trails, cascading waterfalls, quiet sitting areas and terraces that offer many interactive experiences. Forest Valley is adorned with over 200 different species of trees and plants. Here is the world’s highest indoor waterfall with a height of 6 meters. The waterfall flows from a domed roof oculus into the Forest Valley garden seven stories below, helping to cool the environment. It also features a multi-level retail marketplace on five levels via vertical canyons surrounding the garden.
Jewel’s design is based on a semi-inverted toroidal domed roof. The integrated structure and façade system, with the longest span exceeding 200 meters and supported only intermittently at the garden edges, offers a virtually column-free indoor environment. An integrated glass system is also used to provide a level of comfort while maintaining the rich life of exotic plants under sufficient sunlight. This glazing system combines with an efficient and innovative ventilation system for static and dynamic shading.
Inside the fifth floor is Canopy Park. This area contains a 14,000 square meter attraction and is integrated with the gardens. This attraction features swaying net structures in trees, glass-bottomed bridge walks, planted hedge mazes, mirror mazes, and installations complete with artists. There are also topiary, horticultural displays and a 1000-seat event plaza. Jewel has transformed the airport into a tourist destination.
Changi Airport sets a global example with Terminal 3 with the Butterfly Garden. The garden has more than 1000 butterflies and over 200 plant species that feed on insects. There are also outdoor gardens such as the Cactus Garden and Sunflower Garden (Terminal 2), the Orchid Garden (Terminal 2) and the Bamboo Garden (Terminal 2). Fern Garden (Terminal 2), with its over 400-year-old Fern plant, is also worth seeing. Singapore stands out for its unique local culture, influenced by China, Malaysia and Indonesia. At the Peranakan Gallery, you can see traditional dress and portraits while learning about how different cultures have transformed Singapore into what it is today.
