Ready For Takeoff: HOK Designs Delta Sky Club At Salt Lake City International Airport

Delta Airlines has 54 Sky Club lounges across the country, but no two are alike. There’s an Old Hollywood aesthetic in Los Angeles, a skyline mosaic in New York, and an expansive terrace in Minneapolis. The latest of these is in Concourse B of Salt Lake City International Airport, an outdoors-inspired retreat by HOK. Sarah Oppenhuizen, director of interiors at the firm’s San Francisco studio, and her team got a tour of nine other Delta clubs and came back with a clear brief: to create a unique lounge that reflects Utah but retains familiar elements from other locations.

When Delta released an RFP for the club, HOK had an advantage: The firm, which ranks seventh among Interior Design’s 100 Giants, is the architect and engineer of the entire terminal. It replaced outdated mid-century structures with two linear concourses that have been opening in phases since 2020. Each was programmed to include lounges, and when Delta signed on, HOK proved it had the hospitality chops to continue with the interior design for the 34,000-square-foot, two-story club.

Refreshing The Delta Sky Club For Modern Travelers 

Oppenhuizen had previously worked on aviation and hospitality projects. But this was her first airport club, and she leaned into the distinct demands of the typology. “Durability is a huge factor, because in addition to people, you have suitcases,” she begins. The space had to look high-end while hosting thousands of guests each day. Wayfinding is key: Visitors should be able to move intuitively around the large, open area—and not get disoriented before catching a flight. And since club lounges cater largely to individual travelers with laptops, outlets are expected at almost every seat.

Considered Design Details Create A Serene Lounge 

For Delta, it was crucial that the club feel like a respite from the busy terminal, with minimal branding and a refined ambiance. “The client asked for a serene, relaxing environment where people can take a deep breath after going through security,” Oppenhuizen continues. It should have the usual bar, beverage counters, food service, and phone booths, but also a few surprises. “Delta challenged us to create something that would set this club apart,” she adds.

The entrance from the terminal is always the same: wood paneling, Delta-blue sliding glass doors, and a sculptural logo wall. Beyond that, the experience varies. In Salt Lake City, HOK mined the natural beauty of Utah for inspiration. The arrival, on the lower level, evokes winter in Park City with cool colors and metals, like aluminum chains that shimmer by the window. A custom stretched acoustic ceiling forms a 3D diamond pattern like hunks of ice; the geometry mirrors the carved terrazzo floor below.

At the top of the escalator, guests encounter an earth-tone terrazzo path that acts like a hiking trail leading through the lounge and its different vignettes. The main seating area centers around a 360-degree fireplace with a bronze-clad flue; a ceiling paneled in rippled stainless steel and cool-blue carpet allude to the Great Salt Lake. Lounge chairs line the 15-foot-high window wall overlooking the tarmac and the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges in the distance. Beyond, the palette darkens to reference caverns and caves in national parks like Zion, as in bronze-frame seating nooks surrounded by plum-colored acoustical material. The theme is most evident in the moody bar area, wrapped in stonelike paneling that resemble geodes. Cast-glass sconces by local artisan Hammerton look like stalactites, while chandeliers by Dutch Studio Toer channel fireflies.

Inside The Delta Sky Club 

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With 600 seats throughout the club, members have a mix of upright and relaxed postures to choose from, including 11 types of banquettes, almost all with a laptop table. “There’s not a bad seat in the house, because every area has a focal point,” Delta Sky Club design and facilities project lead Mishael Lake Thompson states. “HOK did a fantastic job creating scenes within each space that encourage people to come back and try a new spot.” They especially angle for a seat by the fireplace, she notes.

The most unusual element, though, is the cocoonlike immersion room, HOK’s response to the challenge to differentiate this Delta Sky Club from its peers. “Our series of large screens mimics the experience of looking out a plane window with the world moving by,” Oppenhuizen explains. Images of Utah landmarks—deserts, mountains, lakes, and rivers, in various weather conditions—appear, accompanied by the sounds of birds or thunderstorms, and colored LEDs in the felt-baffled ceiling shift with each scene. Behind velvet curtains, it feels removed from the rest of the lounge, but not so much that someone could miss a flight; turn around and planes are visible on the tarmac.

The idea for the immersion room stemmed from HOK’s research into neuroinclusive design, which calls for calming, biophilic environments that reduce stress. “Some individuals need a separation from everything going on in the club, and this space offers a visual and auditory escape,” Oppenhuizen says. It’s an amenity any harried traveler can appreciate.

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PROJECT TEAM
BRIAN COOK; MEREDITH QUINN; KRISTIN CHOI; JIM LIN; ELIZABETH PAREDES; JAMES ADDISON; FATEN ABDULLAH; STEVEN HANDELMAN; TOM KACZKOWSKI; LISA CASSEDY; STEVE WITTE: HOK. ELEVATE: GRAPHICS. TWINHOUSE ART ADVISORY: ART CONSULTANT. ISEC: MILLWORK. HOLDER CONSTRUCTION: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.

PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT
ARCHITEX: DRAPERY FABRIC (IMMERSION). FUTUMIS: CUSTOM TABLES. BOSS DESIGN: CHAIRS (IMMERSION), GREEN SOFAS (LOUNGE), STOOLS (BAR AREA). KRISKADECOR: CHAIN (ARRIVAL). 3FORM: GLASS (ENTRY). KEILHAUER: ORANGE CHAIRS, BARREL CHAIRS (LOUNGE). PAUL BRAYTON DESIGNS: BEIGE CHAIRS. ACUCRAFT: CUSTOM FIREPLACE. RIMEX METAL: METAL CEILING PANELS. EGE CARPETS: CARPET. NEIL ALLEN INDUSTRIES: TABLES. SLOAN VALVE COMPANY: SINKS, SINK FITTINGS (RESTROOM). HAMMERTON: SCONCES. STONE SOURCE: WALL TILE. C.F. STINSON: ANZEA UPHOLSTERY (NOOK). DAVIS: LOUNGE CHAIRS (BAR AREA). BOCCI: PENDANT FIXTURES. MOOOI: CHANDELIERS. ALEX TURCO THROUGH ROCK MILL TILE & STONE: RESIN PANELING. ELITE MODERN: CHAIRS. THROUGHOUT INTERFACE: CARPET TILE. INNOVATIONS: WALLCOVERING. ARKTURA; UNIKA VAEV; VELARIA SYSTEMS: ACOUSTIC CEILINGS. DALTILE: GLASS TILE. TERRAZZO & MARBLE SUPPLY: TERRAZZO. ARBORITE: PLASTIC LAMINATE. SCUFFMASTER; SHERWIN-WILLIAMS: PAINT.