The installation at Singapore's Changi Airport includes more than 120,000 square yards of Brintons' Axminster carpet.
A recently opened terminal at Singapore’s Changi Airport features more than 120,000 square yards of custom woven Axminster carpet from Brintons in what the company calls the largest carpet airport installation in the world. The carpet is used in multiple arrival and departure halls, meeting places, waiting areas, lounges and retail shops, as well as a 66-room Transit Hotel located within the airport. The Brintons flooring is set to see traffic of up to 22 million passengers a year, and is part of an approach designers of the terminal call “the ultimate feeling of hospitality.”
Jon Stone, heads of the UK carpet makers’ global commercial division, said his company has been working on this project for the past five years. “To glimpse the magnitude of this task, just consider that this project required over 200,000 kilos of yarn, equivalent to fleece from 65,000 sheep,” he said. “Managed through our Singapore office, carpet for this installation was actually produced in three of our four production facilities.”
Five patterns of custom woven Axminster carpets were chosen for evoking “imagery of aerial landscapes,” noted Samantha James, lead designer for Brintons. “The two main patterns are very large in scale, 4 by 4 meters, to bring visual metaphors of fields and meadows to the large open spaces without a hint of tracking or lining,” she said. “Also with glass partitions and the overall openness of the facility, it was highly critical that our patterns provide for a smooth, transitional flow.”
Brintons worked closely with Australian architectural and design firm Woodhead Wilson and Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority. Additionally, local dealer Arista Interior Décor Pte Ltd. was responsible for managing and installing the carpet throughout the terminal.
The airport’s Terminal 3 is one of the largest in the world. The transportation hub also includes a five-story vertical garden with four waterfalls, close to 30 aerobridge gates, 70 retail shops, and 30 food and beverage outlets.
