CHANGI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – SINGAPORE
Airports all over the world have a tendency to turn into real attractions. More than just air travel service hubs, they become places filled with attractions where travellers can shop, eat and relax. It’s becoming more and more common nowadays in modern international airports to find not only shops, cafés and restaurants, but also cinemas, lush gardens, spas, spectacular architecture and works of art. One perfect example of this is the Changi International Airport in Singapore.
Located just 23 km from the centre of the metropolis, it’s one of the largest airports in Southeast Asia, and it’s breaking new ground. Singapore’s busiest airport has a fitness centre, a supermarket, a clinic, a business centre and Crowne Plaza hotel with a direct link to Terminal 3. This airport certainly knows how to surprise passengers in transit: in Changi you’ll find the famous Rain Vortex, the highest indoor waterfall in the world; a swimming pool, free cinemas, splendid art galleries and exotic gardens on several levels. There’s also a pool filled with exotic fish, a butterfly house and an orchid garden. Just like any real journey, the Changi International Airport gives passengers a taste of wonder as they travel through it.
The materials used in a place with such a high number of people in transit and such unique characteristics had to be chosen carefully. Lea Ceramiche products were selected to pave the floor of Terminal 2 in 2003 and 2008: porcelain stoneware floor tiles offer excellent long-term performance in terms of resistance to stress and wear. The response was very positive: in addition to meeting the functional project requirements better than other materials, Lea Ceramiche products made a significant contribution to the formal character of the terminal. A Panaria Ceramica collection was used to pave the floor of Terminal 4 in 2016. As well as the other advantages of porcelain stoneware, this collection offers the extraordinary antimicrobal performance of Protect®, the exclusive Panariagroup technology that keeps environments healthy, safe and protected. Protect® products in fact have an antimicrobal shield that, due to the action of silver ions, eliminates 99.9% of bacteria from the surface of the tile. In this collection, the ceramic materials used for the outdoor paving also benefit from this property, fundamental for a public place with such intense foot traffic.