For its design, innovative methods and installation, our colleagues in Schindler Lifts Singapore have been awarded the coveted Elevator World Project of the Year 2020 in the category of Escalators, New Construction for the "Jewel Changi Airport" project.
Reliably, comfortably, and safely, is how we move people throughout the world. These qualities are really put to the test in high human traffic environments like airports.
One of the busiest for passenger traffic and best (as ranked by Skytrax) airports is Singapore’s Changi Airport.
Earlier this year, our colleagues in Singapore handed over the 178 elevators, escalators, and moving walks at the Jewel Changi Airport (Jewel), which, since it’s opening in April, has quickly become a major landmark in Singapore.
‘Jewel’ is the latest addition and crown jewel to Singapore Changi Airport. Jewel is a joint venture project by Changi Airport Group and CapitaLand. Within Jewel, there is a wide range of offerings including gardens and attractions, over 280 retail and dining options, a hotel and aviation facilities.
The dome-shaped roof façade was designed with special high-performance architectural glass material, with each glass panel containing a 16mm air gap to insulate against noise emitted from aircraft. Likewise, a series of tests and research were put into ensuring that the glare from the glass surface will not interfere with the daily operations of air traffic. This innovative and iconic project is seamlessly connected to Terminal 1 and linked to Terminals 2 and 3 via pedestrian bridges.
One of the two key highlights of the Jewel experience is the HSBC Rain Vortex, a 40-metre indoor waterfall with water cascading through an oculus in the roof of the building. Set to be the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, the HSBC Rain Vortex was inspired by the frequent rains in Singapore and complements the lush greenery surrounding the various lifestyle offerings, making it a sight to behold from every floor.
The other highlight, The Shiseido Forest Valley is a verdant four-storey landscape, which houses one of the largest indoor collection of plants in Singapore. The landscaping is designed to allow visitors to shop and dine amidst a resplendent indoor forest of more than 2,000 trees and palms and over 100,000 shrubs.
The main aims of this project were to capture tourism mindshare and entice travellers to choose Singapore as their preferred stopover destination.
Mr Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Executive Officer, CAG, said, "Located at the doorstep of the award-winning Changi Airport, Jewel will be a place where Singapore and the World meet. For international travellers, Jewel will be an exciting tourist destination. For Singaporeans, it will be a playground near home where they can share many happy moments with their loved ones. For our retail partners, the opportunity to reach out to the diverse mix of passengers at a major air hub presents exciting prospects."
For its innovative and iconic design, Jewel has won multiple local and international awards including the MAPIC Award for Best Futura Shopping Centre, MIPIM Asia Award for 3 Best Future Project, the BCA Green Mark Award - GoldPLUS award, the BCA Universal Design (UD) Mark Design GoldPLUS award and the International Architecture Award.
Schindler’s involvement in this project helps to move 82 million people every year by connecting Jewel to three of the four terminals. Beyond the operational needs of moving people, Schindler elevators and escalators are also an integral part of the design and user experience, like the panorama elevators within the Shiseido Forest Valley that rise up through the canopy.
Over 3 years, our colleagues in Singapore installed 178 elevators, escalators and moving walks, no small task by itself, but made even more of a challenge as the site sits right in the middle of 3 existing, active terminals. Creative solutions had to be found for the hoisting and installation of the equipment.
The innovations deployed at Jewel were not just in installation methods. Jewel is also equipped with the latest Schindler Ahead remote monitoring and predictive maintenance technology to provide greater uptime, insights and convenience to those who work on the equipment as well as those who are responsible for the operation of the facility.
Another innovation at Jewel is the integration of Automatically Guided Vehicles (AGVs) with the elevator control system. Within the hotel, appropriately branded Yotel, Schindler collaborated with Techmetics to integrate robots that deliver room service and independently use the passenger elevators.
Once the AGV receives its commands, it will travel to the elevators and via a wireless communication protocol place a landing call and subsequently an elevator car call to deliver the robot to the necessary floor. The robots can travel with other passengers at the same time and communicate with other passengers to let them know that it will be entering or exiting the elevator.