"A-Club" airport lounge | VOX Architects

The A-Club Lounge in Terminal B of Sheremetyevo Airport is a new business lounge format by Alfa-Bank, developed according to a project by VOX Architects. With this project, the largest private bank in Russia continues its series of lifestyle spaces in locations popular among Alfa-Bank clients, such as airports, theaters, and stadiums.

The new камерное (intimate) space with 55 seats is available exclusively to A-Club clients. It offers a boutique hotel-like atmosphere where guests can relax before their flight at their own pace, surrounded by unique artifacts and exclusive interior design solutions. The lounge incorporates the best practices of the global hospitality industry adapted to the airport environment — including a wine bar, a гастрономическая линия (gourmet dining area), showers, and a separate cigar room.

The architectural concept of the interior is called “The Hedonist’s Collection” and is built around the idea of a library of experiences gathered through travel and meetings. The interior functions as a curated collection — each element adds a new layer to the atmosphere of relaxation through visual, tactile, and even olfactory impressions. This art-rich space is designed for the sophisticated traveler who appreciates subtle nuances of comfort on every sensory level.

The lounge features unique custom-made items created using technologies specially developed by the architects. Among them is a bar counter made of complex acrylic in a deep ruby shade, reminiscent of an aperitif in a textured glass. This imagery is supported by a 200-kilogram textured designer chandelier that appears to be assembled from ice cubes. In the reception area, there is a desk made of composite material with the visual effect of frozen lava, featuring an embedded signature duck symbol of the private business community.

A full library is displayed on handcrafted illuminated shelves made of textured glass — from collectible editions by Assouline and Taschen on architecture, design, fashion, and gastronomy to art objects. Guests can explore books and artworks while preparing for their journey, seated in ergonomic designer furniture offering different levels of privacy: sofas by Walter Knoll, velvet armchairs with wide wooden armrests, or individual capsule chairs by Poltrona Frau designed by Norman Foster specifically for airport use.

In developing the interior concept, architects considered the priorities of A-Club clients, for whom both privacy and a sense of spaciousness are essential. This effect is achieved through glossy surfaces such as back-painted tempered glass panels with a wine-gradient pattern, ribbed glass partitions with a blur effect, and curved lacquered Australian veneer panels with integrated mirrored flight information displays. Reflective metal ceiling panels are used near the cigar room, while open white ceilings in transit zones enhance the sense of space and airiness. Textured white plaster provides sound absorption and reinforces the tactile, intimate atmosphere.

The lounge’s compact size is visually expanded not only through reflective surfaces but also through a complex lighting design. The open ceiling with diffused reflected light serves as general illumination. Decorative Pedrali lamps above tables add focused warm lighting, while pendant lights directed toward the floor and baseboard lighting create comfortable lower-level illumination. A Tom Dixon table lamp at the reception desk adds a sense of coziness, and illuminated glass shelving throughout the space provides additional light accents.

All these elements transform the A-Club Lounge from a simple waiting area into a rich sensory interior experience, where waiting for a flight becomes an opportunity for calm contemplation.