Air France Suvarnabhumi Airport Lounge

For most of us travelling starts and ends at airports.

Unfortunately the pleasure of travel has mostly been removed from airports.

As there is not much to enjoy at these “waiting-for-security, laptop-out, shoes-and-belt-off, hands-in-the-air-while-being-padded-down, queuing-for-passport-control, look-at-the-camera, finger-print, waiting-for-seats-numbers-to-board-the airplane” places.

Within these ever tightening protocols of getting on an airplane the airport lounge is trying to bring a bit of relaxation: taking a shower before a flight, reading a international newspaper in a comfortable chair, having something to eat before boarding an airplane.

From a design point of view many airport lounges are branded, designed with a look and feel consistent with that of the airline operating the lounge.

For the Air France Suvarnabhumi Airport Lounge we stepped away from the branding, and instead tried to minimise the visual branding aspect by focussing mainly on the experience of the space.

Our suggestion is that while moving through the lounge the functions of the space will become clear through the use of tactility.

Through the use of carpeting, lattice walls, lots of plants and a variety of seating we have tried to create a lounge which varies in function but also in atmospheric feel as you walk through it.
Tactility as well as screened views are the main design element. The wooden lattices give depth to the space. From wherever you stand the views are always different.

Areas become more quiet, softer and individual, or tiled, open and more social while moving through the space. In this way we believe that travellers will not just visually enjoy the lounge but psychologically correspond to it as well.

White oak is used for the lattice on the walls and ceiling, for the side tables, for most of the doors and the bench in the changing rooms of the showers. The floor of the dining area, the walls of the showers and back splash of the food sections are all clad in a 300x600mm anthracite tile.

We custom-design all the furniture for the lounge. A grey fabric is used consistently for all the chairs, stools and benches with a subtle red stitching. A few blue chairs are scattered throughout.