The global design competition for Changi Airport’s future Terminal 5 has begun, with an inventory of shortlisted firms expected to be announced soon.
The completion marks a big milestone for the T5 project – Changi’s largest expansion to this point – which has to this point focused mainly on site preparation and other earthworks.
Local firm DP Architects, which was a part of the design team for the Esplanade and Singapore Flyer, and has also teamed up with British firm Grimshaw Architects to design T5, are believed to be favourites for one of the vital coveted architectural commissions within the industry.
According to reports from the British magazine The Architects’ Journal, the architectural studio Safdie Architects, headed by the creator of the famous Marina Bay Sands complex and the designer of the Jewel Changi airport, which is scheduled to open in 2019, can be expected to be among the many candidates for the position.
The other primary candidate is more likely to be a consortium including British firms Heatherwick Studio and engineering firm AKT II, in addition to American architectural firm KPF.
DP Architects chief executive Angelene Chan confirmed the partnership with Grimshaw, adding that an official shortlist had not yet been announced.
Changi Airport Group spokesman Ivan Tan told The Straits Times: “We have began the means of choosing our design partners for Terminal 5 and are working on a shortlist of firms with whom we are going to hold further discussions. We will announce the shortlist after we are able to achieve this.”
Terminal T5 is scheduled to open at the tip of the subsequent decade. It will probably be larger than the three current terminals combined.
It is being inbuilt Changi East, which is separated from the present airport site by Changi Coast Road, which will probably be redeveloped in the approaching months. The means of choosing a design consortium for T5 began late last yr with a briefing hosted by Changi Airport at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, The Straits Times has learned.
An architect who was there but declined to be named said: “The turnout was huge, as you’d expect for a project of this scale and given Changi’s stellar popularity. All the large global and native names within the industry were there.”
During the session, Changi shared its broad plans and timeline for T5, he said, without elaborating because all participants needed to sign a non-disclosure agreement at the tip. Of those known to be within the running, Grimshaw Architects, specifically, has done several airport and transport-related projects. They include the expansion of London Heathrow Airport and Zurich Airport, in addition to the design of a brand new terminal at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Once T5 is complete and T4 opens this yr, Changi Airport will have the option to handle as much as 135 million passengers a yr, greater than double its current capability. The aim is to strengthen Singapore’s position as a key hub for global flights amid stiff competition from rivals.
ASIAONE.com
