forces in motion

Singapore, Munich. Singapore has put a gem into its architectural crown, the “Jewel Changi Airport”. The largest single-layer steel-glass construction and the world’s largest indoor waterfall – both resting on 14 spherical bearings from MAURER. A new showcase project of the bearing specialists from Munich.

Singapore is a booming metropolis and the number of passengers at Changi Airport is supposed to double by the mid-2020s. As the central element of the airport expansion, the Jewel will be put into operation step by step in 2019. The large steel-glass construction measuring 137,000 square meters is situated like a slightly oval donut between terminals 1, 2 and 3 and connects them. In the center, quasi in the “eye” of the donut, the world’s largest indoor waterfall drops 40 m – during the monsoon season with a flow rate of about 40,000 liters of rainwater per minute.

As project manager at MAURER, Dipl.-Ing. Peter Günther travels around the globe and has seen many things – however, even he admits: “This is really impressive: the forest, the waterfall, the entire dimension and atmosphere – beyond comparison.” On ten stories, the Jewel hosts a 130-room hotel, 280 shops, bars and restaurants, a movie theater, an amusement park, check-in counters, baggage check-ins, and a jungle with over 60,000 trees and bushes.