IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 45

Photos by: (Polaris Club) © Dave Burk Photography

The new
design of
the United
Airlines'
Polaris
lounge gives
customers
more privacy
and more
options to
customize
their space.

the cages that lowered men into the mines and stained glass
that mimics the community's churches, according to the
Montana Standard.
"Airport owners want the character and culture of
the city to come through in the design," says Thom
Walsh, AIA, principal and director of airports, Fentress
Architects, Denver, Colorado, USA.

brands, Conforte says today's designers are creating a more
adaptable layout in which each shop has a stand-alone
space that can adopt their core brand.
"The byproduct is a better user experience where people
are no longer confined to sterile hold rooms but
can move about the concourse eating and shopping
within eyeshot of their gate," she says.

Retail Redone

Privacy, Please

The demand for upgraded experiences also has led to
major improvements of airport strip malls and food courts.
The airport retail market is expected to reach $90 billion
by 2023, according to a recent report from Credence
Research. But these travelers aren't looking for kitschy
souvenirs and pizza. They want a combination of goods
they can't find at home and luxury items.
For example, Auckland Airport in Auckland, New
Zealand began opening its renovated international
terminal in stages late last year. The new space's retail hub
features several New Zealand destination stores-such
as Koha, which stocks New Zealand art and gifts, and
Mountain Jade, which sells local handcrafted greenstone-
mixed in with a number of luxury brands, including Coach,
Furla, and Rolex.
But don't expect these brands to settle for a generic
space.
"It is important to upscale retailers that their brand
be maintained to the same standards as brick-andmortar locations," says Sheyla Conforte, IIDA, LEED
AP, NCIDQ, executive director of interior design at
Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Chicago, Illinois, USA. "They
would not accept a retail opportunity in which they did
not have control of their storefront." To attract these

United's customer experience team also is focused
on creating more intimate spaces within the larger
context of the airport to offer travelers a sense of
THOM WALSH, AIA
comfort and respite. That includes signature seating
as in the United Airlines' Polaris lounge, which gives
club members a private place to nap, work, or dine.
Designing these advanced experiences requires input
from the client and the customer.
For the Polaris club, for example, United's customer
experience team spent months surveying club members
about how they use the space and what was
missing, as well as watching their behavior to
identify what they used and what they wanted.
Conforte's team then created custom nooks,
equipped with privacy panels, pullout desks,
task lighting, comfortable seating, and multiple
power sources.
"We wanted to give them a sense of control
SHEYLA CONFORTE,
over their space and create a relief from the
IIDA, LEED AP, NCIDQ
stress," she says. The team then watched
how passengers used the nooks to make
further refinements, which included expanding the
tables to support larger laptops and centering them to
accommodate left-handed patrons. "The height, depth,

spring 2018

perspective

45



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018

IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018
From IIDA
Contents
Next
World View
Sum of Its Parts
Talk, Talk
Data Viz
Pre/Post
I Design
Redesigning Gender
The Real Deal
Supermarket Shift
Safe Spaces
Ready for Takeoff
Scratch Pad
Insider Intel
IIDA News + Updates
Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 5
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Next
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - World View
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Sum of Its Parts
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Talk, Talk
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Data Viz
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Pre/Post
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - I Design
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Redesigning Gender
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 20
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - The Real Deal
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Supermarket Shift
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Safe Spaces
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 40
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Ready for Takeoff
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 44
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Scratch Pad
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Insider Intel
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - IIDA News + Updates
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Spring 2018 - Cover4
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