Once the epitome of bland, functional style, airports are getting
a fresh look as a new wave of pioneering design elevates layovers
with statement landscaping – and it’s transforming the travel
experience. Leading the way is the ambitious complex at Singapore’s
Jewel Changi Airport, an innovative design by Israeli-Canadian
architect Moshe Safdie. In a bid to create a ‘paradise garden’ that
visitors would come back to again and again, Safdie crafted the
‘Forest Valley’. This huge indoor garden, complete with the world’s
tallest indoor waterfall, sits at the heart of the airport’s newest
terminal – a distinctive glass dome, criss-crossed with steel supports
that took five years and almost £1 billion to build.
‘The Jewel complex juxtaposes nature with a vibrant marketplace,
dramatically extending the concept of it as an urban centre,’ says
Safdie. Nature is introduced with some 900 trees and 60,000 shrubs.
Two walking trails climb up through five levels of palm-dotted
greenery to the Canopy Bridge, a dramatic glass-bottomed platform
suspended 23 metres above the terminal. And at the centre of this
spectacular indoor forest is the airport’s showstopper, the ‘Rain
Vortex’. The 40-metre waterfall funnels natural rainwater down
into the airport lounge’s irrigation system.
Adding another dimension to Safdie’s inventive take on what an
airport can offer is the capacity for play at Jewel, where, alongside
airy terrace restaurants and refreshed retail spaces, you’ll find the
Discovery Slides – toted as Singapore’s first large-scale interactive
sculpture – a hedge maze and a mirror room. ‘The world-class
shopping and dining, seamlessly integrated with lush foliage, fulfils
the needs of increasingly discerning travellers for a meaningful,
experiential journey,’ says CEO Hung Jean, pointing to a new era
for airport design. Considering Singapore’s nickname as ‘the City
in the Garden’, there seems no better introduction to the country
than this verdant sanctuary ( jewelchangiairport.com).THE STOPOVERJEWEL CHANGI AIRPORT
A departure lounge like no other, Singapore’s new sanctuary is a triumph for aviation and architectureESCAPEAUGUST 2019 ELLEDECORATION.CO.UK 181WORDS: CAT OLLEY