Airports Get Grounded

by SweisKloss
August 22, 2024

Air travel can be chaotic and anxiety inducing. Crowds jostling to check bags, long lines at security, no room to sit at the gate, flight delays and cancellations, and this is all before leaving the airport! “Given record-breaking crowds at airports already this year, … this Labor Day weekend could be busier than any prior.. weekend,” according to Nerdwallet. And, during this long holiday weekend, the TSA expects to screen more than 14 million passengers (PR Newswire).

Airports around the globe are reconsidering airport design to help reduce passenger stress by incorporating green spaces, natural light, and even therapy animals. Using biophilic design - bringing in the natural world- airports are hoping to harness nature’s benefits such as lowering travelers’ stress, blood pressure, and heart rate (CNN.com).

These airports have created innovative and visually appealing spaces that offer a sanctuary of calm in the midst of the hustle and bustle of terminal traffic:

Singapore’s Changi Airport’s antidote to the chaos of travel is to seamlessly blend indoor-outdoor spaces by bringing a jungle inside. Spread over five floors, it boasts 220 different species of plants, 3,000 trees, and 10,000 shrubs (airtport-technology.com).” It also features the world’s first waterfall inside an airport, aptly named The Jewel (Travel and Leisure). Sitting under a glass dome, The Jewel is surrounded by the Shiseido Forest Valley, where passengers can stroll through paths and walking trails, a butterfly garden and enjoy tropical greenery.

Qatar created a unique space at Hamad International Airport where travelers can relax, rejuvenate and recharge. Referred to as The Orchard, it boasts a stunning water feature, a sprawling 65,000 square foot tropical garden with more than 300 trees, 25,000 plants sourced from sustainable forests…” (Forbes) and skylights for plenty of natural light.

*Photo courtesy of International Airport Review*

At Helsinki International Airport, Northern Lights, falling leaves…. Scenes and sounds from Finland’s landscapes and nature envelope passengers in the open terminal space in an effort to ease tension. Rocks and plants create the “feel of a Finnish islet” in the arrivals hall, while an impressive wooden ceiling made of Finnish Spruce adorns the departures hall (internationalairportreview.com).

Photo courtesy of Passenger Terminal Today

T2 at Kempegowda International Airport in the southern Indian city is meant to evoke Bengaluru’s reputation as the ‘garden city” with “bamboo elements, natural stone, hanging gardens, exotic Mediterranean plants and earth-formed structures” (wallpaper.com). From check-in until boarding, travelers are immersed in the garden atmosphere with natural light filtering through skylights, “swaths of glass, and a network of landscaped bridges.”

The calming presence of greenery is dispersed throughout South Korea’s Incheon International Airport. Flowering plants, trees, ferns and bamboo, … water, rock, cactus and pine gardens [are] strategically located across the airport campus” (passengerterminaltoday.com). The massive roof with translucent panels allows an abundance of natural light inside the terminal.

Closer to home, Portland International Airport just unveiled their new main terminal this month that brings the Oregon outdoors indoors as they prioritize the link between nature and the wellbeing of passengers. With dozens of trees, thousands of plants, streams of natural light and a wooden ceiling… “[they have created] an arboreal atmosphere” (CNN.com). Locally sourced Douglas Fir was used to create the timber ceiling while varieties of black walnut, Ficus and olive trees are dispersed throughout the terminal. Therapy llamas and alpacas will be on hand to “soothe and delight travelers as part of the airport’s broader pet therapy program.”