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Aspire Lounge

Category: Hospitality
Location: Belfast City Airport

Client Brief

The clients fundamental brief was to create a truly premium lounge service in line with the Aspire vision, whilst also integrating the unique geographical characteristics of Belfast and the surrounding region.

The project was required to amalgamate two lounges into one vibrant space and increase covers by 70. The design brief was to create a lounge suited to the guest profile, taking advantage of the fantastic views, differing light, and creating a range of spaces varying from family and small group areas to private work booths and relaxing chairs to enable the guest to unwind whilst enjoying the range of food and beverages.

Objective

Aspire are Europe's largest brand of airport lounge and serve over 7 million customers worldwide so DV8 were keen to deliver on the clients brief as this was a fantastic opportunity to excel in the aviation sector & promote DV8 globally.

Careful consideration was to be made to include creative references and visual cues stages to the Aspire brand and its relationship to aviation without it feeling like a corporate space or overtly themed.

During the concept & space planning stages DV8 wanted to push the design of this projects to bring in the most current trends while keeping five key focal points which remain static in all lounges and retain a sense of place by installing artwork and bespoke murals featuring Northern Ireland landmarks and history.

Operationally the team at DV8 needed to review the space available & completely re-imagine how the space was going to be used & operated.

The objective being to transform the guest journey & introduce users to the varying selection of spaces, bar, food servery islands, working desk space, quiet lounge, dining space and booth seating. We pushed ourselves to tailor each zone to tap into the needs of the guest and elevate their experience, enveloping them with comfort, ease of service and a touch of indulgence. Every part of the design had to have the guest experience in mind.

Approach

Airport lounges are a unique operation where the number of customers is in an almost constant state of flux from one extreme to another.

The design of the lounge accommodates the busy periods, with the supply of hot and cold food and beverages to each customer unencumbered by the number of customers in the lounge. Our design of the self-service servery islands had to provide multiple access points for customers and an appealing aesthetic, promoting free circulation around them to avoid queues.

With the aim of stimulating the senses, the refurbished lounge was approached to incorporate a blend of tile and slatted curved screens, plush upholstery design seating, and enclosed private booths for additional privacy. The use of feature LED lighting inspired by the Giant’s Causeway would evoke a keen sense of locality, while warm colours will conjure a feeling of relaxation and rest.

As a counterpoint, in the lounge’s quieter moments, customers still feel at home as we were creating a sense of ease and proportion to each space. 

Close attention was paid to the ambience of these spaces with beautiful localised and stylish touch points with materials, art deco artwork and lighting to firmly cement the “community” and transport the customer to a place of relaxation.

DV8’s exceptional design ability & approach lies in our skill to create spaces from bespoke feature elements which hang beautifully together to give a multi-dimensional, 360-degree experience which excites and draws in guests throughout the length and breadth of the space. We chose a composition of materials, lighting, and colours to generate a feeling of warmth and luxury for guests, whilst providing the client with a durable facility which can cater for heavy duty use.

Outcome

British Airways measure the success of Airport lounges by Net Promotor Score and the score of the Belfast lounge has increased to a level above their expectation and they have commented that this lounge is the benchmark for third party lounges in their network – making them a market leader in their sector.

Aspire Airport Lounges partnered with DV8 Designs to create a truly premium lounge service to further strengthen the Aspire vision. The customer journey is now intuitive with a series of designed spaces providing the customer with a choice of varying environments, whatever their needs, business, or leisure.

After our previous successful partnerships with Aspire DV8 Designs have since been reappointed again by Aspire Airport Lounges after the remarkable success of this £1.2million investment at Belfast City Airport.

We have succeeded to create an Airport Lounge which has transformed into a flagship site for the Aspire Brand – created a constructive collaboration between form and function. The increase in covers by a further 70 has also made this site commercially & financially viable to offset the cost of the investment which form the client’s perspective is a resounding success.

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