Project Jewel: Biomimetic Airport Climate Design — Atelier 10 / Safdie Architects

Biological model: Heterogeneous biological membranes and circulatory systems

Company: Atelier 10 / Safdie Architects

A 121,000 m² airport and commercial complex in Singapore that uses heterogeneous glazing patterns and embedded chilled water pipe systems inspired by biological membranes and circulatory systems to strategically condition a vast indoor garden without massive energy consumption.

The challenge

Large-volume glass-enclosed spaces in tropical climates would require enormous energy for uniform air conditioning. Conventional HVAC treats the entire volume identically, wasting energy conditioning areas that don't need it while potentially under-serving others.

Nature's strategy

Biological membranes with variable permeability that selectively control what passes through different regions. Circulatory systems that deliver resources (cooling, nutrients) precisely where needed through branching networks with local regulation.

What was emulated

Variable-permeability membranes for selective energy transmission; localised circulatory delivery of thermal conditioning; thermal stratification and stack effect for passive air movement; heterogeneous environmental gradients supporting diverse organisms.

The innovation

Heterogeneous glazing with variable frit density that creates different light and thermal zones, combined with embedded chilled water pipes in floor surfaces that provide radiant cooling only at occupied levels, allowing heat to stratify upward naturally.

Full case study

Project Jewel at Singapore's Changi Airport is a 121,000 m² structure that blurs the boundary between indoor and outdoor environments, housing a vast indoor garden beneath a spectacular glass dome with the world's tallest indoor waterfall. Conditioning the entire void under the glass would have been massively energy intensive, so like nature, the design was strategic with heating and cooling rather than applying uniform conditions everywhere. The frit pattern on the heterogeneous glazing modulates density across the dome surface, varying light transmission and therefore thermal load depending on location—much like how biological membranes have variable permeability. Using ray tracing and illuminance prediction software, the designers optimised light levels for the plants in some zones while maintaining thermal comfort for pedestrians in others, creating dynamic environmental gradients rather than homogeneous conditions. The floor surfaces feature embedded chilled water pipes that provide locally-attuned, strategic cooling—like a circulatory system that delivers cooling only where and when needed. This radiant cooling operates only at the lowest levels, allowing heat gains to rise naturally through the space via stack effect. The result is a building that maintains comfortable conditions for both humans and tropical plants across a massive volume using a fraction of the energy that uniform conditioning would require.