"Solar Wind" Airport Business Lounge

Dmitry Chebanenko

• Architects

The superior comfort lounge in the new terminal of the Novy Urengoy airport, designed by VOX Architects studio, helps passengers soak up the atmosphere of a unique natural phenomenon— Aurora borealis(Northern Lights), which can now be observed not only in the night sky, but also inside the airport.

photo_credit Dmitry Chebanenko — Dmitry Chebanenko

Despite the fact that business lounge is on the first floor in the departure area, this space has no windows to observe a panoramic view of the flight strip. VOX Architects team reinterpreted this significant feature and, with the help of an airy architectural volume, turned the dense darkness into the mystery of the polar night with shimmering “Northern Lights".

Space planning
The architectural installation is not merely a decoration, but also zones the space, organizing passenger flows in it and creating private zones to comfortably wait for boarding a flight. It is an elaborate ergonomic and artistic planning solution.

"The aurora borealis " consists of ribbon-like canvases made of aluminum chains fixed under a nearly seven-meter ceiling. They encircle a massive column in the center of the hall, its cross-rod structure is a part of the complex ceiling structure of the airport. The lighting is designed to hide the bulky structure and the underfloor space in shade, while the functional areas are, on the contrary, highlighted and accentuated with the radiance of the falling metal curtains.

At the entrance to the lounge, there is a reception desk. The bar and the catering area are highlighted with hanging lamps tilted to create a certain rhythm: here one can sit in the open space at tables or hide away in a niche nearby, designed in warm sunny colours and highlighted with light lines.

The cafe and bar are separated with a transparent curtain of aluminum chains from the island with a counter around the column. The passengers can sit on a bar stool, charge their phone or tablet. For those who feel more comfortable waiting for a boarding while sitting at tables, there are cozy armchairs and sofa-alcoves made of noise-absorbing material with sockets and chargers for gadgets. Floor lamps contribute to the atmosphere of coziness with their user-adjustable reflected light system. The airy metal curtains not only separate the zones visually, but also acoustically, muting noises and facilitating communication.

Nearby there is a group of sofas: it is fenced off by another wave of the aurora borealis and a volume of light corian, that complements the central island. The passengers who might need a more intimate environment may use alcoves along the wall that are separated from the open space by frosted glass partitions.

Design concept
The underlying idea of all the interiors created by VOX Architects is a visual image characteristic of a particular project. It can be based on the architectural, geographical or historical context.

Thus, the aurora borealis, which can be observed in the permafrost regions, is a key visual solution for the airport business lounge project in Novy Urengoy. The architects were inspired by the fascinating optical natural phenomenon — luminescence in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which occurs when magnetic fields interact with high-speed charged particles of the plasma layer of the Sun, the "solar wind".

The cascading architectural volume of aluminum chains brings associations with ribbons of light in the night sky, pulsating in sync with the lines of force of the Earth's magnetic field. The threads of the metal canvases are coloured to create the effect of radiance and shimmering, characteristic of the local northern lights. It is enhanced with linear light tubes, creating the necessary rhythmic pattern.

The polar night ambience is achieved with the dark walls lined with stemalite: tempered glass panels visually expand the confined space, adding depth and mystery. Spot ceiling lights make the image of a starry night sky complete, while the warmer shades of the built-in contour lights remind of the Sun origins of the aurora borealis.

Over a short stay in the business lounge, passengers get an unforgettable experience of a unique natural phenomenon before they take off, and it will hold a special place in their heart for long.