Mactan Airport Defeats The World’s Best Airport In International Architecture Awards
The Mactan Cebu International Airport’s new Terminal 2 wins another international award, this time besting Singapore’s Jewel Changi
According to the notes by the award-giving body, they chose to give the victory to Mactan Airport because it was a “simple and elegant new airport that uses many locally sourced materials. It is integrated into the local area through the development of a local hub and a landscape plan. The internal spaces are light and uncluttered... It is clearly popular with the local community and this established a memorable travels experiences.”
In a report by ABS-CBN News, Winston Shu, principal architect of the International Design Associates (IDA), said that unlike the Jewel that required a $1.25-billion price tag, the judges commended Mactan Airport for its “economy in manufacturing,” which means it can be achieved with fewer resources compared to others. They also called the airport “very confident, yet very modest.”
MCIA T2 was built in collaboration with renowned Filipino firm BUDJI+ROYAL Architecture+Design headed by Budji Layug and Royal Pineda, and internationally acclaimed industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue, who hails from Cebu. It was constructed by Filipino-Indian consortium Megawide-GMR in 2016 and opened for operations in 2018.
The design of Terminal 2 very much alludes to local materials and aesthetics, made with glue-laminated timber that’s joined by thousands of smaller wooden ribs to form a skeletal structure. The interiors and exteriors showcase a clever marriage of wood and metal, with the generous use of white light and tiles. With Mactan International as one of the gateways to the white sand beaches of Cebu and its surrounding islands in the Visayas region, Terminal 2 channels this message by featuring a wave-shaped roof and wooden arches that look like an inverted boat hull.
Apart from its inspired design that alludes to the character of the city it represents, Shu said that the Terminal 2 also won the award because it features a design that is “capable of future extension.”