Jewel Changi Airport (Jewel), a multi-dimensional lifestyle destination in Singapore, has opened. Mott MacDonald provided building engineering services for the development.
Jewel will enhance Changi Airport’s hub competitiveness by expanding the capacity of existing Terminal 1 to support future passenger growth and enhancing the connectivity to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. It will enrich the airport user’s experience by incorporating airport and travel related facilities, as well as commercial facilities providing entertainment, retail and dining options, supported with innovative and unique attractions to create a lifestyle destination.
Jewel features a distinctive dome-shaped façade made of glass and steel, representing the juxtaposition of a park and marketplace. This is exemplified in the lush Shiseido Forest Valley and majestic HSBC Rain Vortex, both of which are in the central core of the complex, surrounded by over 280 retail stores and eateries.
As building services engineer, Mott MacDonald’s role included the mechanical and electrical design for the various components such as retail spaces, car park, aviation related areas such as the Terminal 1’s “meeters and greeters” hall, the link bridges that connect Jewel to Terminals 2 and 3, as well as the design of the climate control for Canopy Park at Jewel’s top floor. This includes various sustainable features such as an optimised chilled and condenser water pipe routing to minimise the power required for pump usage, as well as rainwater harvesting for use in plant irrigation. Condensate water from air handling units is recycled, while hot water is generated through heat pumps.
Jewel’s design has been awarded Singapore’s GreenMark Gold Plus sustainability standard for its chiller plant operating efficiency that has a targeted plant operating efficiency of 0.56 kW/ton, using series counter-flow chiller configuration of a total 9,400-ton plant capacity.
Mott MacDonald’s project director KaiYea Soh said: “Jewel is truly an iconic destination and we’re deeply proud to have played a part in the development of this complex. These types of projects don’t come along very often and while it has been technically challenging, it is greatly rewarding to see the project come to fruition.”