Vox Architects Forgoes the Ceiling for a Russian Airport Lounge
The Platov Airport was built in 2018 to serve Russia’s southern capital, the industrial and cultural center of Rostov-on-Don. When it came time to carve out amenities within the hub’s vast 538,000 square feet, the sky was the limit for Moscow-based Vox Architects—somewhat literally—as the business lounge space would not have ceilings, but instead be flooded with light from the structure’s distant glass roof.
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To keep things grounded, Vox’s leader and main architect Boris Voskoboynikov looked to the horizon. “A metal profile, located at the eye level of a standing person, draws a graphic line along the partitions around the perimeter,” he says. This horizontal detail organizes the finishes used: dark marbled surfaces or tiles below, lighter metallic tones above, separated by integrated linear lamping that casts a sky-blue light.
A blue mirror “sun” creates depth of space in open seating areas carved out by metal frames, which variously enclose glowing reception and café services. “The idea was to make the space ephemeral and dissolved,” Voskoboynikov says, creating moments of peace for travelers themselves temporarily between destinations.
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