(May 2010) Singapore is very proud of its Changi International Airport and especially proud of terminal 3; and rightly so one might add! The interior design stands in a class of it’s own and won the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Honour Award 2009.
Woodhead Architects brought the ambiance of the South-East-Asian equatorial rainforest into the Changi Airport’s arrival and check-in lounge: the 16 m high and 300 m long „Green Wall“ is rank with vertical planting.
Natural stone also plays prominently in the concept. Large portions of the walls in the terminal are clad in limestone. The pattern is irregular, just like one would encounter it in nature. The slabs are rectangular but variable in size and highly diverse in surface design.
Some stone bear plant and animal bas-relief, and are a true eye-catcher: not a one-to-one transposition of nature but rather a quote in context spread over the breadth of the wall bringing the tapestry to life.
The 2.800 m² Fantasia-sandstone worked by the Spanish producer Bateig in the Novelda plant. Ina Brüggemann sums up the challenges of this project: „The foremost concerns were a precise cut as well as high quality materials and delivery on schedule.“
American Society of Landscape Architects
Photos: Bateig
