Gagarin Airport / VIP-lounge

Gagarin Airport named after Yuri Gagarin, the first man in human history who flew into space, is the new Saratov international airport with a total area over 23 000 m².

VOX Architects chief goal was to design in the airport a contemporary and comfortable VIP-lounge with an area of 1 044 m² and all its functional spaces in compliance with high international standards.

Cosmos became a reference to design the VIP-lounge architectural image. The cosmic theme is present both directly – as relief portrait of Gagarin or a capsule, a model of a spherical Earth crew capture vehicle, used as a playroom for younger passengers, and metaphorically – as stark emotional architectural images and motives of endurance, breakthrough, miracle, superiority.

The miraculous infinite space is filled with enigmatic signs and permeated with bright rays of light, symbolizing a mix of sci-tech achievements and human courage.

The two levels of the VIP-lounge are interconnected by an atrium with facade glazing and a vertical light column — complex architectural structure of a circular floating staircase, a lift in its center and an adjoining bar. On the ground floor there are a reception desk and a boarding gate, open public spaces, a restaurant, a bar, separate public lounges, a playroom; on the second floor the spaces are more secluded, like individual semi-open working capsules, a conference room with a kitchenette, an office lounge, and private lounges. Thanks to the two-level lounge organization it became possible to disperse the passenger traffic flow according to their needs, and to use the utmost potential of the space for different purposes.

The coloristic solution is based on a sky-blue combination of white with various shades of blue. White-blue objects remind of clouds, ploughed by a rocket shooting into mesosphere.

VOX Architects

Chief architects: Boris Voskoboynikov, Maria Akhremenkova
Project team: Yana Mitasova, Kaurbek Bagaev, Lyubov Orlova, Ekaterina Novik, Artem Vybornov. Maxim Frolov, Evgeny Nezamaykin
Photo: Sergey Ananiev
General Contractor: Project Line
Lighting Design Development: Artemide
Graphic Design: Leit.design (printing on ceramics), Yana Mitasova (navigation)