SINGAPORE — Jewel Changi Airport has made the shortlist of the 2019 World Architecture Festival, the world's biggest architecture awards programme.

The award organisers released on Thursday (July 4) their shortlist comprising 534 projects from 70 countries.

Jewel Changi Airport was designed by Safdie Architects, the firm behind the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort and the ArtScience Museum.

The S$1.7 billion retail and leisure complex within the airport grounds, which opened to much fanfare earlier in April, made the shortlist under the Completed Buildings - Transport category.

There are eight other nominees in the category, including Turkey's Istanbul Airport, the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and the Barangaroo Ferry Wharf in Sydney, Australia.

In a news release, the festival organisers noted that the “eco-airport” is centred around a 15,000sqm indoor public garden which has a 40m-high indoor waterfall, as well as “3,000 trees and 100,000 shrubs from around the globe”. 

On its website, Safdie Architects stated that during thunderstorms, recirculated and natural rainwater will flow at more than 10,000 gallons a minute, which helps provide cooling and airflow in the landscaped environment, collecting significant rainwater to be re-used in the building.

Mr Paul Finch, programme director of World Architecture Festival, said: “We have been inspired by the levels of innovation in this year’s entries, that show the incredible range of ways in which architects are responding to the global climate and biodiversity emergencies we face.”

This year’s shortlist also includes private residential, education, infrastructure, healthcare, hospitality, cultural or civic, and landscape projects.

The winners will be decided during the festival, which is set to be held in Amsterdam from Dec 4 to 6 this year.