The ‘Jewel’ is the latest addition to Singapore’s world renowned Changi Airport. Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, Jewel Changi Airport opened last year to worldwide fanfare and attracted more than 50 million visitors within the first six months.
It’s hard to classify this building. It sits at the centre of the three main airport terminals and performs many functions: a huge underground carpark and coach bus facilities, some aviation check in facilities, a massive shopping centre, a hotel, and of course the iconic central garden waterfall courtyard.
There is no denying that the Jewel is an artificial attraction manufactured to entice visitors (and to justify the S$1.7 billion price tag). Despite this reality, the experience created is truly magical- a rainforest canyon enclosed in a stunning latticework structure and centred around one of the most spectacular waterfalls ever.
The Jewel is enclosed in a toroid (doughnut) shaped glass and steel domed facade. The complex latticework structure is minimally supported at the edges and hangs down towards the central void from which the waterfall cascades- a truly incredible feat of structural engineering.
The centrepiece of the Jewel is the Rain Vortex, the world’s largest indoor waterfall. At 40 metres tall, the waterfall is the height of a 10 storey building and it is truly stunning during the day and at night features a mesmerising light and sound show.
Surrounding the waterfall is a terraced landscape designed by Peter Walker with over 120 species of trees and plants. Steps and overlooking terraces traverse the various levels of the mountainous rainforest landscape, with interesting interface points with the shopping mall behind, and even restaurant terraces where you can enjoy the view while having a drink or meal.
The shopping mall aspect of the Jewel is massive (90,000 sqm) and features a number of stores such as Singapore’s second Apple Store (pictured below, and there might be a third coming soon). There are also flagship stores for Nike, Muji, Zara & Uniqlo, a Starbucks Reserve, and an IMAX theatre. The mall is massive and it will be interesting to see how it performs within an airport environment.
In the basement of the Jewel, the upper waterfall flows into a giant seamless acrylic funnel. It’s pretty surreal because the lower waterfall is completely silent as it falls three storeys into the basement.
How to visit Jewel Changi Airport
It seems that every visitor to Singapore is super keen to check out Jewel Changi Airport, the Garden City’s latest attraction (and for good reason – the waterfall and terraced garden atrium is spectacular).
Being located at the airport, a visit to the Jewel should be fairly convenient for any traveler. But Changi Airport (one of the world’s best and busiest) is pretty big and getting to the Jewel can be a bit daunting- especially if you’re transiting through and not clearing customs.
How to visit Jewel Changi Airport if you are clearing customs
You can visit Jewel Changi airport on arrival or departure (the central atrium is open 24/7) but I’d recommend checking it out on your way out. Head to the airport a few hours early for your flight and check in so that you’re not carrying your check-in luggage around the Jewel. You may be able to check in directly at the Jewel on certain flights. Getting to the Jewel will depend on which terminal you’re flying out of:
Terminal 1
This is the easiest, the level 1 arrival hall of Terminal 1 is connected directly to the Jewel and is only a few minutes walk, just past the amazing Kinetic Rain sculpture.
Terminal 2 & 3
Still super easy, the level 2 departure halls of both terminals are connected to the Jewel by a glass tube skybridge and it’s less than 10 minutes walking. (If you’re walking through the tube from Terminal 3, you can get a cool view of the best airport hotel in the world)
Terminal 4
This is the trickiest terminal to get to Jewel from, but still fairly straightforward. You may be able to catch a shuttle bus directly from T4 to Jewel, but if that’s not running just catch the frequent shuttle bus to Terminal 2 and take the skybridge as described above.
Visit by Skytrain
If you’re feeling lazy or exhausted after a long haul flight, you can also visit the Jewel by passing through on the free airport Skytrain, just follow the instructions for transiting visitors below.
How to visit Jewel Changi Airport if you are transiting and not clearing customs.
If you are transiting through Changi Airport and not exiting customs, you can can still see the iconic waterfall by passing through on the free airport Skytrain. Check out the video above or image below for an idea of what the trip looks like!
To take the Skytrain through the Jewel, you need to take the train between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. If you are in Terminal 1 or 4, you need to get to Terminal 2 or 3 in order to switch to the train that passes through the Jewel. You can take this train from both public areas and secured areas of the airport.
Images and video by Jonathan Choe
