THE Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) has bested Singapore’s Jewel Changi Airport and Turkey’s Istanbul Airport in the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2019.

MCIA’s Terminal 2 won in the festival’s “Completed Buildings: Transport” category, beating other global transport hubs.

“Together with the MCIA Authority and all our stakeholders, we congratulate Integrated Design Associates (IDA) Hong Kong, led by Winston Shu, on this momentous achievement. We are proud to share this international recognition with the Filipino people,” said GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. chief executive advisor Andrew Acquaah-Harrison.

Terminal 2’s architecture was designed by multi-awarded firm IDA Hong Kong in collaboration with international Filipino designers like Kenneth Cobonpue.

The 65,500-square-meter terminal boasts its timber arches and floor-to-ceiling glass panels.

“The WAF award recognizes the MCIA Terminal 2 as an iconic and symbolic architectural structure, which all Cebuanos and all Filipinos can be proud of,” Harrison said.

According to the festival’s judges, MCIA’s newest terminal “is a simple and elegant new airport that uses many locally sourced materials.”

“It is intergrated into the local area through the development of a local hub and a landscape plan,” WAF said in its website.

“The internal spaces are light and uncluttered and the design is capable of future extension. It is clearly popular with the local community and this established memorable travel experiences,” it said.

Other nominees for the award include the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Tainan Bus Station in Taiwan, Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, the Barangaroo Ferry Wharf, Mernda Rail Extension, and Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal in Australia.

The WAF, dubbed as the world’s largest interactive architectural awards program, was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Recently, MCIA was also recognized as the 16th best airport in Asia by travel website Sleeping in Airports. (CSL)