Striking design in Heathrow's T4
The SkyTeam alliance is to open the first stage of its new lounge at London Heathrow Airport this week.
It is the alliance's first ever co-branded lounge open to all its ten members.
The lounge, designed by Brandimage - Desgrippes and Laga of Paris, is in the former BA lounge in Terminal Four.
The SkyTeam members, among who are Air France KLM, Delta Air Lines and Aeroflot, are gradually moving into the terminal as it is re-constructed.
When AF moves in in November, the second part of the new lounge will open.
A striking point of the brightly coloured and airy lounge is the 12 living walls, designed by Patrick Blanc and installed by construction consultancy McBains Cooper.
These are walls decorated with live plants which over the next 18 months will grow and fully cover the 200 square metres of the lounge walls.
Lindsay Melrose, associate director at McBains Cooper and project manager for the lounge said: "What really stands out is that series of ‘living walls' - vertical gardens which at first glance may appear to be a straightforward case of hanging plants on a vertical surface, but were in fact a big technical challenge: under closer inspection it is an ingenious method of growing plants directly out of the walls using a unique planting and irrigation process; there is no soil involved."
The lounge also include a buffet section, bar, wellness area including showers and massage chairs and, when the second stage opens, a quiet area, two VIP rooms and a children's play area. The whole lounge has Wi-Fi connections.
Francesca Freeland, leader of the SkyTeam at Heathrow, said: "This is extremely significant for SkyTeam as we become one step closer to transforming Terminal 4 into the first ever airport facility centred around the alliance and its passengers."
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