New Delhi, May 10 (Inditop.com) If you drive to or from the soon-to-be-opened Terminal-3 (T-3) of the international airport here, you are bound to notice the sidewalks and causeways fast sprouting with exotic flowers, palms, manicured shrubs and lush lawns.
A Hong Kong landscaping architecture firm is beautifying the surroundings around Delhi’s newest terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, billed as one of the largest in the world, ahead of the October Commonwealth Games in October.
Exotic varieties of orchids from Thailand and Dioon Spinosa palms imported from Mexico will be among the key highlights of the landscaping initiative, according to officials at Delhi International Airport Ltd, which is carrying out the new development.
EDAW, the Hong Kong-based firm, is working with Beyond Built of Bangalore for delivering the project from concept to commissioning in the landscaping project, which is spread over 70 acres outside the terminal and 10,000 sq mt inside the building.
As many as 39 varieties of trees, 26 kinds of plants, 39 types of ground covers and six types of cacti and succulents will blend with 30,000 sq mt of lush green lawns along the terminal and its causeways.
“The idea is to create an environment that makes passengers feel good before or after a travel,” a senior official of DIAL told Inditop, speaking on the condition of anonymity as per his company rules.
“We have planned nearly one million trees for the project, both inside and outside the terminal building. We are using nearly 300 varieties of plants that grow fast and are easy to maintain,” the official said but declined to share the financial details.
The T-3 landscaping initiative also includes new systems for irrigation, water-feature works, energy-saving lighting, planters and works for vertical green walls. The total area involved is 5.2 million sq ft.
Soft landscaping inside the terminal will feature 1,000 granite clad planters, 800 self-watering planters from Germany and 850 low-height modular fiberglass reinforced planters that will act like “green lungs” and give a tropical look and feel inside the terminal.
The terminal will cater to both domestic and international flights while providing the travellers and visitors the comforts that come with state-of-the-art technology, a wide spectrum of infrastructure for transforming the airport experience in India.
T-3, the first phase of which is slated for July, will have 90 automated walkways, 63 elevators, 31 escalators and 78 aerobridges. It will also feature multi-level car park for 4,300 vehicles and a high-speed dedicated Metro link to the city centre.
According to DIAL, a plant nursery spread over 6.75 acres has also been developed to maintain more than 10,000 plants. The nursery will have the facility of a cold house, a green shade house and an open ventilated shade house.
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