VIP-Center Schiphol Airport

At a glance

Project by: Concrete Architectural Associates
Location: Schiphol Airport, Schiphol, Netherlands

Preview image

VIP-Center Schiphol Airport (Concrete Architectural Associates)

© Ewout Huibers

Project images

	VIP-lounge 1: 115 m2. This is the first part of the three connected lounges and designed to handle more crowd. A 10 m couch in front of the facade is surrounded by Marcel Wanders fauteuils. An other part of the lounge gives place to a "news-area": a reading table, and cabinet, made from scrap wood, designed by Piet Hein Eek are placed on a specially designed scrap wood floor. A large flat screen is integrated in one of the glass walls. The floor is finished with side-pressed bamboo and the ceiling with white acoustic plaster. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	VIP-lounge 1: 115 m2. This is the first part of the three connected lounges and designed to handle more crowd. A 10 m couch in front of the facade is surrounded by Marcel Wanders fauteuils. An other part of the lounge gives place to a "news-area": a reading table, and cabinet, made from scrap wood, designed by Piet Hein Eek are placed on a specially designed scrap wood floor. A large flat screen is integrated in one of the glass walls. The floor is finished with side-pressed bamboo and the ceiling with white acoustic plaster. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	VIP-lounge 2: 90 m2. This area is the heart of the VIP-centre and is crossed by each visitor on its way to one of the entrances. The lounge contains a large red bar and red bar-tables (AVL, by Joep van Lieshout), a place where visitors can have a drink together with their company or alone. To comfort the lone traveller, the glass is covered with a 6 by 2.6 m interpretation of the painting “18 members of an Amsterdam Rifle Club having a meal” by Dirck Barendz, 1566. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	VIP-lounge 3: 80 m2. The third part of the three lounges is closest to airport and assumed to be the most quiet one. Lose round carpets with comfortable chairs (Libelle, by Rene Holten) create small intimate sitting area's where visitors can read, work or relax. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	VIP-lounge 3: 80 m2. The third part of the three lounges is closest to airport and assumed to be the most quiet one. Lose round carpets with comfortable chairs (Libelle, by Rene Holten) create small intimate sitting area's where visitors can read, work or relax. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	Royal Lounge: 110 m2. This lounge is specifically designed for our Royal Queen and the Royal family. High-gloss smoked oak is placed in a herringbone structure like floors in the Royal Palace would be. Two large Royal blue carpets create two similar sitting areas with in each area two large "Poldersofas" by Hella Jongerius, for this occasion especially finished with different Royal blue fabrics. The glass walls are covered with a pattern of the Royal Dutch Arms. A big cabinet (Paper Cabinet, by Studio Job) is placed to give the lounge a home-like feeling. The cabinet is filled with typical Dutch board games and even framed family portraits of the Royal Family. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	Royal Lounge: 110 m2. This lounge is specifically designed for our Royal Queen and the Royal family. High-gloss smoked oak is placed in a herringbone structure like floors in the Royal Palace would be. Two large Royal blue carpets create two similar sitting areas with in each area two large "Poldersofas" by Hella Jongerius, for this occasion especially finished with different Royal blue fabrics. The glass walls are covered with a pattern of the Royal Dutch Arms. A big cabinet (Paper Cabinet, by Studio Job) is placed to give the lounge a home-like feeling. The cabinet is filled with typical Dutch board games and even framed family portraits of the Royal Family. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	Company Lounge: 90 m2. The Company Lounge is designed to be used by business people. The chairs and couches are designed by Rietveld and finished in tones of warm and cool grey. The loose chairs and couches leave the possibility to change the set-up according to different use. A large fixed table surrounded by 12 Gispen chairs can be used for meetings or lunches. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	Reception Lounge: 100 m2. The reception Lounge will be used by different companies. To avoid the conflict of unmatching corporate colours, the main colour of this lounge is black. The lounge will be used by large groups and contains a bar and a large sitting area. The used furniture can be described as new antique: Smoke Chair by Maarten Baas, Kaipo lamp by Edward van Vliet, Light Shade Shade by Jurgen Bey and a great number of lampshades by Tord Boontje. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	Reception Lounge: 100 m2. The reception Lounge will be used by different companies. To avoid the conflict of unmatching corporate colours, the main colour of this lounge is black. The lounge will be used by large groups and contains a bar and a large sitting area. The used furniture can be described as new antique: Smoke Chair by Maarten Baas, Kaipo lamp by Edward van Vliet, Light Shade Shade by Jurgen Bey and a great number of lampshades by Tord Boontje. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	Pressroom: 100 m2. The Pressroom is the only large lounge without daylight and glass walls. This space is imagined to be a typical Dutch landscape. The floor covering is a carpet printed with an aerial photograph of a green polder landscape nearby Schiphol Airport. The ceiling is provided with a light-clouded sky which, off course, couldn’t be lacking an airplane. Black office chairs (AVL Office Chair by Atelier van Lieshout) are placed on the landscape carpet in 4 straight rows. Every chair is, for this occasion, specially provided with writing boards. The design of the black, loose office chairs is translated to the back and fifth row into an 8 meter long couch: the “penalty-bench” for latecomers. As a special humoristic Dutch touch is one of the AVL office chairs produced in a black-and-white cow skin. © Ewout Huibers View project image
	VIP Room: ca. 30 m2. Small living room like areas that can be used by small groups. Provided with a large desk and an office chair (AVL Office Chair by Atelier van Lieshout) and small sitting areas of fauteuils and couches (Mare by René Holten). © Ewout Huibers View project image

Architect's statement

Because of growing globalisation and generic development of airports, Schiphol International Airport more and more is manifesting itself as a Dutch Airport. At the same time Schiphol wants to contribute to the cultural environment by exposing historic and contemporary art. In the design of the VIP-centre, Concrete decided to combine these two elements, as they came forth as most important in the briefing of the new VIP-centre on the airport. Objects used in the design are exclusively designed by contemporary Dutch artists; the products designers. At the same time, when you visit the VIP-centre you should get to know the typical Dutch mentality: our sense of humour and satire, our efficiency and even our economical practicality. Every object is Dutch design and tells its own story.

Visitors of the VIP-centre are mostly obliged to their stay because of their class. That's exactly why their stay has to be as pleasant as possible, like an oasis of peace, away from the hectic atmosphere of the airport. The terminal building exists of corridors and traffic areas. In contrast to this, Concrete decided to create an area without any corridors. Each square meter needs to provide a high-quality experience, where as corridors provide the complete opposite. From operational point of view the lounge needs to provide the possibility to enter and leave the area from landside as well as airside. These entrances were the biggest design-issue, because they were situated in complete opposite corners of the existing structural shell. Crossing from one entrance to the other, visitors walk through three connecting lounges. These three lounges form the aorta of the VIP-center, surrounded by the other smaller lounges. In addition to the three central lounges the total VIP-center exists of four other large lounges and five smaller rooms. The lounges are surrounded by glass walls with rounded corners. LED-lighting in between the glass walls provide a light atmosphere to compensate the lack of daylight. Except from the glass walls and shape of the walls, each lounge has been given its own identity, partly to react on the different functional demands, partly to give the frequent visitor the opportunity to experience different atmospheres.

Client: Schiphol Group
Location: Terminal West, Schiphol Airport, Schiphol, Netherlands
Designer: Concrete Architectural Associates
Project team: Rob Wagemans, Jeroen Vester, Ulrike Lehner, Erik van Dillen
General contractor: Volkers Wessel Bouw
Interior: Valk Interieurbouw BV
LED-lighting: Vasco Showtechniek
Total area: 1200 m2
Opening: 23 January 2008
Duration of construction: 6 months
Photography: Ewout Huibers (www.ewout.tv)