Light plays an important part in the design of Changi's new third terminal, which is on track to open in January. Mike Toynbee has had a sneak preview. Let’s be honest. Airport designers are generally concerned only with the efficient use of space and how to shovel through as many passengers as possible in the least amount of time. Aesthetics are not a major priority. It comes as a pleasant surprise, therefore, to learn that Singapore Changi’s third terminal, which is due to open on January 9 next year, will incorporate a number of design-led features. Not least of these will be its one-off roof design, compromising more than 900 skylights with specially designed reflector panels which will automatically adjust themselves to allow an optimal amount of soft and uniform daylight into the terminal building. At night, the skylights will glow with artificial lighting discreetly concealed below the reflector panels. The overall effect, claims the design team, will be a soothing ambience at all times of the day. Then there’s the Green Wall, a five-storey-high vertical garden. The airport has always been big on horticulture, with various areas allocated to it in the other two terminals. But nothing quite on this scale. Spanning 300 metres across the main building, the Green Wall is visible from both the Departure and Arrival Halls and is covered with climbing plants and is interspersed with four cascading waterfalls. Not that any of this detracts from the primary function of the new terminal: passengers can expect to move around with ease and with the minimum dependence on signage. This has been made possible as Terminal 3 adopts a “seethrough” layout concept, making it easier for travellers to orientate themselves. “It is part of the four guiding principles adopted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) when designing the new terminal: clarity, natural lighting, external views and maintainability,” says a spokeswoman. On the commercial front, over 25,000m2 of floor space has been set aside for more than 100 retail and 30 food and beverage outlets, plus 20 service concessions. To complement the see-through layout concept, the departure/transit mall is designed to provide a compact, single shopping street layout that aims to enhance the visibility of the retail outlets. Terminal 3 will have a high-speed inter terminal baggage transfer system and an automated early bag storage facility. The luggage of transfer passengers making connections at different terminals will be transported individually through underground tunnels at a speed of seven metres per second. This means in effect it will take only about three minutes for a bag to travel between Terminals 2 and 3. A new Automated People Mover will comprise 10 train services linking all three terminals via 6.5 kilometres of elevated tracks. The new system will have a total of seven stations: two each in Terminals 1 and 2, and three in Terminal 3. New trains will be equipped with LCD screens providing flight and other airport information. There will also be plasma TV displays at the stations to inform passengers of the arrival time of the next train. A 350-room hotel, linked by a walkway, will be immediately adjacent to the new terminal. Facilities include swimming pool, meeting and conference rooms, and spa lounges as well as a health and fitness club. Hotel guests will have easy access to Terminals 1 and 2 via the People Mover System, as well as easy access to and from the city centre via the airport’s Mass Rapid Transit station. Terminal 3, which has been built at a cost of S$1.75 billion (US$1.14 billion), will have an annual handling capacity of 22 million passengers, increasing the airport’s overall capability to around 70 million a year. The new terminal will be equipped with 28 aerobridge gates, of which eight will be capable of handling the A380 super-jumbo, when it finally arrives. What with an abundance of natural light, its imposing garden and water feature and easy navigation for travellers, this is an enlightened approach to airport design which will almost certainly put Changi in line for yet more awards in the years ahead.
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