Why would Cambridge’s Safdie Architects select Solarban 70 and Solarban 72 Starfire Ultra-Clear for the $1.2 billion Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore? Because when you’re building a glass dome encompassing 1.7 million square feet, specs call for “an exceptional combination of transparency and solar control, as well as an ability to support plant life, deflect and absorb radar signals, and to fulfill the specific acoustical demands of one of the world’s busiest airports.”

Whew. That’s quite a commission, to be sure. And oh my is the structure something to see. The new airport is a marvel of engineering and a wonder of sight and sound. The huge Vitro Architectural Glass dome houses an earthly garden of delights—this is to say not only a thriving eco-system of bountiful fauna, but also retail and restaurant space, lodging, terminal operations, a suspended glass-bottomed bridge, and the world’s highest indoor waterfall. Of course.

Solarban was chosen for its proven performance in other international airports (in Bangkok and Amman), as well as its technical superiority. Both styles offer the desired combination of solar modulation, acoustical performance, transparency, and light transmittance, not to mention unsurpassed aesthetics.

The 9,000+ individual panels that make up the dome were fabricated in China’s Guangdong Province. And, owing to the geometry of the structure, no two units are exactly alike—just like a snowflake or a precious gem. How very apropos for this marvel of millennial imagination and engineering.

Read more about Solarban at Vitro Architectural Glass.