Under the dome: "The world's best airport" is getting a $1.5 billion makeover
Welcome to the biodome: Singapore’s airport is getting a futuristic makeover.
Singapore’s Changi Airport is already one we wouldn’t mind being stranded in for a few hours. But now’s it’s about to get a whole lot nicer.
Changi — the world’s fifth busiest international airport — is undergoing a massive $1.5 billion expansion, with the goal of making the airport not only fun for tourists but a tourist attraction in and of itself.
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The centerpiece of the 1.4 million-square-foot airport expansion — code-named “Project Jewel” — is a glass-and-steel bio-dome that connects Terminals 1, 2, and 3 via glass-enclosed walkways.
On the dome’s top floor will be a tranquil, indoor garden where travelers will be treated to the calming sounds of a cascading waterfall that will pour from the dome’s roof.
The project also includes five stories of retail shops and another five stories of underground parking.
It’s not as if Changi Airport were screaming for renovation. It has won the title of World’s Best Airport from the World Airport Awards two years in a row, and Business Traveler Magazine named it the best airport in the world for an astonishing 26 straight years. It’s clear by this ambitious new project that Changi is not ready to rest on its considerable laurels. Lee Seow Hiang, CEO of the Changi Airport Group, said in a statement: “We are confident that Project Jewel will be a world-class attraction near home that Singaporeans will not only enjoy immensely but be proud of.”
Construction is starting this year. Organizers hope travelers will be able to enjoy the new Changi Airport by the end of 2018.
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