Recent Project: Custom Lighting for Polaris Lounge & United Airlines
United Airlines' Polaris Lounges are some of the most luxurious airport spaces you'll find in the US. But "luxurious" in an airport usually also means "exclusive". Only those flying United's long-haul international business class, or first class on certain partner airlines, are granted access and most airports don't have these lounges yet.
The Project
So when we learned we were being given the prestigious honor of designing the lighting installation for the Polaris Lounges in Newark, Houston, and Dulles, Virginia, we knew we had our work cut out for us. After speaking with United Airlines, it was understood that they wanted an installation that would strongly reference the stars, and properly reflect the Polaris branding. They also had an established material range and color palette that the installation had to have in order for it to maintain cohesion across all United Airlines Lounges throughout the country.
The Challenges
The team had never done custom finishing on the Constellations design before. The studio underwent several material tests and weeks of research & development to properly understand the chemical patina process and how the finishes would react. This was especially challenging as the Constellations themselves are so fine and delicate.
In addition, this type of project was one of the first larger scale installations we had ever done at the time so it was still fairly new to our production team, but we love a good challenge.
Perhaps the most unique part of this design was using a chemical patina to custom finish the installation. This particular process is incredible to watch. Each piece of brass is washed and then dipped into a chemical solution, within seconds the color begins to change. Depending on which chemical is used, different finishes and colors can be achieved. In this case, the client wanted an oil rubbed bronze color; and after a bit of practice, we were able to achieve exactly that!
Why Polaris?
Polaris is the North Star, the point in the nighttime sky that travelers have long used as their guide. We chose the name United Polaris® to represent the reimagined travel experience that flyers can rely on for true comfort and real sleep as they travel the world.
Get In Touch
Whether you have a specific idea in mind or you’d like us to work on your project from the ground up, we’ll be happy to do so.
If you have any questions about what we can do for you, you can reach out to us via our contact form. If you’d prefer to speak with us over the phone, you can call us at +16467031121.
