Home comforts

Rather than design the lounge to look like a typical corporate environment, the space has been created to replicate that of an upmarket apartment.

‘It made sense to us to use the concept of a contemporary apartment to set the tone and use it as a framework for all elements of the design and operation,’ says Studioilse.

Passengers enter via an entrance hallway and can then move to the Retreat area, where they will find a day bed, reading light and curtain, which they can use for privacy. Other facilities include a dining room, bar, pantry, bureau and library.

‘Before we designed a single thing we started questioning what luxury means to first-class travellers today,’ says Ilse Crawford, founder of Studioilse. ‘We spent a lot of time in airport lounges watching and talking to people. It was riveting.’

The Big Picture: Airports and travel facilitators are broadening the range of luxury experiences. To learn more about how travel brands are meeting their customers’ needs, read our Luxury Travel Consumers Market report.