Ural set: VIP airport lounge livens up travel

Designed with business travellers in mind, the lounge features high-backed chairs which offer semi-enclosed temporary work areas, as well as spaces for cafés, bars and retail.

Yekaterinburg sits on the border between Europe and Asia near the Ural Mountains, which inspired the lounge’s design. Jagged lines and rough surfaces create spaces for retail and relaxation which reference the caverns and crags of a mountainous environment.

The use of stained glass is inspired by gemstones once found in the Urals, tying the design to the area’s cultural and historic identity.

The architects used colour to liven up the lounge and to exceed travellers’ expectations. ‘We set out to ourselves the task to shake up the monotonous interior space, to get away from the routine and sleepy indifference that reigns so often in our institutions,’ architect Boris Voskoboynikov tells ArchDaily.

For more design innovation, see LS:N Global’s Airport Retail market.