dna special: 'Dance of 1,000 peacocks' at Terminal 2

The roof of Terminal 2 (T2), which will be inaugurated on January 10, is said to be as majestic as “the full-blown feather of a peacock”.

Experts involved with the project claimed that the roof, spanning 11 acres, is considered an engineering feat and has been embedded with special dichroic lenses that move in accordance with the sun’s movement, reflecting on to the check-in hall flooring an array of colours reminiscent of a peacock feather.

Though dichroic glasses (which undergo a colour change under certain lighting conditions) have been used for making jewellery and other products earlier, the modern-day dichroic glasses were first used by NASA for research and exploration.

“The look of the roof has been inspired by the dance of a 1,000 peacocks,” said an airport official.

Insiders said the airport’s design team chose this look as peacock is our national bird and, with its vibrant colours, “expresses the rich culture of the nation”.

Another feature of T2’s roof is its skylights, which are made for transmitting sunlight into the terminal. “There are 28 major skylights, covering 30,000 sqm and consisting of an intricate combination of 272 pieces of glass sourced from China, built on a steel framework. And with each piece being 500 sqm, these are the largest skylights ever built in Asia,” said the official.

Also, there are 244 minor skylights, in which each piece of glass is 140 sqm.

One more noteworthy feature of T2 is that it has made the CSIA India’s first vertical airport, thanks to the terminal’s four levels, with a total area of 4.3 million sqft.

Fabulous lookin airport which I am sure will lead globally & provide much relief to the city & passengers #T2Mumbai pic.twitter.com/FMHFscjZpk

— Farhan Azmi (@abufarhanazmi) January 6, 2014