January That Year  

Incheon International Airport Terminal 2: The New Face of South Korea

In January 2018, Terminal 2, the second gateway to South Korea, opened ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Did you know that this terminal was also built by the hands of Hyundai E&C? Terminal 2 has a total area of about 400,000㎡, which is equivalent to the size of 56 soccer fields, and has two underground floors and five above-ground floors.

✔759,000

The design of Terminal 2 is centered around the key concepts of “eco” and “art”. With a landscaped area three times larger than that of Terminal 1, Terminal 2 features over 750,000 plants, including 25,000 trees and 734,000 shrubs. Notably, the airside Node Garden, situated beyond the airport’s departure gates, evokes the atmosphere of a botanical garden.

✔50

Compared to the ceiling of Terminal 1, which reaches a maximum height of 20 meters, the ceiling of Terminal 2 starts at 10 meters and rises to 50 meters at its highest point. In particular, the ceiling of the ticketing hall is a magnificent work of art. It is made up of thousands of louvers designed to enhance natural light. These comb-shaped louvers, inspired by the feathers of a phoenix, are arranged in large, sweeping curves, creating a striking sense of volume. As you enter Terminal 2 for your flight, be sure to look up at the ceiling!

 February That Year  Frasers Tower Singapore: A Green Garden in Bloom within the Building

☘️ Four Green Communities within the Building

✔The Sky: A rooftop offering stunning views of Singapore from the 38th floor

✔ The Oasis: A three-story podium rooftop garden surrounded by trees, perfect for relaxation and rejuvenation

✔The Park: A garden that creates a forest-like atmosphere in the urban environment, welcoming visitors even before they enter the main entrance

✔ The Terrace: A three-story indoor garden where you can even hold business meetings

☘️ A Sustainable Building Efficiently Powered by Green Energy ☘️

✔ The double glass on the outer wall of the building blocks the strong solar heat from entering beforehand

✔ The installation of an irrigation system that uses rainwater and the management of water concentration improves water efficiency

✔ The eco-friendly lighting system improves the energy budget by more than 30%

Frasers Tower, the ultimate manifestation of a green tower, has won the BCA Award for Excellence in Design & Engineering Safety and the BCA Green Mark Platinum Certification, both awarded by the Building & Construction Authority of Singapore. It has also won several prestigious architectural awards for energy efficiency, including the ASEAN Energy Award.

In March 2019, the National Museum of Qatar opened in the heart of Doha. Renowned for its geometric design with almost no straight lines or right angles, the museum is considered a masterpiece of the century. It was designed by world-renowned architect Jean Nouvel, who drew inspiration from the “Desert Rose”.

✔Desert Rose Blooming in the City

The National Museum of Qatar is designed in the shape of a desert rose, with interlocking disks that have no vertical or horizontal surfaces. Its circular, intertwined form resembles that of a desert rose. The museum's interior follows the same disc-like design, blocking the intense sunlight from anywhere inside.

 

*It is a rose-shaped sand formation, a rare crystal formed when moisture evaporates in the salty deserts of northeastern Qatar.

 

To construct such an unprecedented piece of atypical architecture, Hyundai E&C applied 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) throughout the construction process, which enabled early detection of design drawing errors. In addition, a 1/3-scale mock-up of the actual building was created to conduct various quality inspections and minimize construction errors.

✔3,000 Tons of Petals Withstanding 40°C

A disk with a maximum diameter of 87m plays the role of a flower petal. A closer look at the disk reveals that it is a puzzle-like arrangement of multiple panels. A total of 76,000 pieces of 4-6 cm thick concrete panels were used on 316 circular plates.

Hyundai E&C attached a barcode to each panel to prevent confusion about the panel's location. By scanning the barcode, it was possible to track where on which circular plate a panel was located. It took more than four months to complete a single petal, requiring precise and sophisticated technology.

In addition, Hyundai E&C selected concrete with a stone component and carved the panels to accommodate the contraction and expansion caused by the harsh desert climate. In particular, the panels gradually thin toward the edges. Also, note that the concrete was painted sand-colored to express the Desert Rose, a symbol of luck!