Schiphol VIP centre

Project Schiphol VIP centre
Interior Design Marcel Wanders studio
Furniture dealer, project management and logistics Lensvelt
Location Schiphol, Amsterdam
Photography VIP centre Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, design by Marcel Wanders studio for Schiphol, 2020 - 2021

A journey through Dutch history, art and culture, with a contemporary twist: that best describes the new interior of the VIP centre at Schiphol Airport. Travellers can work, play, eat and relax in a variety of spaces, each with its own character and style. The redesign is the result of a collaboration between Marcel Wanders studio and Lensvelt, which served as a distributor for the project. With references to 17th century explorers and modern-day masters of Dutch Design, the interior is firmly rooted in the old and new visual culture of The Netherlands, says creative director Gabriele Chiave of Marcel Wanders studio. ‘Here, guests get a final touch of Dutch culture before flying. Multiple designs serve multiple purposes. There is a bar, a library, a game room for families and rooms to work and meet.’

Furniture dealer 

Being both a furniture dealer and a project manager dealing in other well-known brands, Lensvelt was in a unique position to help realize this project. It provided the logistics and planning to deliver the redesign within the given time frame. Chiave: ‘We were happy to discover this side of Lensvelt and worked together really well throughout the entire process.’

Pieter Kraaijenbrink, senior sales manager at Lensvelt, recalls the level of detail that Chiave and his team brought to their concept: ‘In drawing up the design, they quite literally thought of everything. From the flooring to the wallpaper, they’ve really done a fine job of bringing it all together.’

Renewal

With ten years passing since the previous design, the time had come for a new look and feel to the VIP centre, which hosts royals, diplomats, executives and other guests. Moreover, Schiphol wanted to offer guests the opportunity to withdraw into a room of their own. ‘The aim was to create more separate spaces within the existing square footage - not expanding, but ‘inspanding’’, explains Bartjan Wielinga, the VIP centre’s manager of operations. For the redesign, partitions were created, but they still allow for connecting the various spaces, so groups of guests can use them according to their size.

Sustainable future

With Lensvelt having successfully worked with Schiphol for years, the company was a natural fit to partner with Marcel Wanders studio on the project. In an earlier, award-winning project, Lensvelt provided new, sustainable seating system for Schiphol’s E24-pier. Its circular design fit neatly into Schiphol’s ambitions for a sustainable future. Lensvelt was also involved in the VIP centre’s 2008 design and over time has become a preferred supplier of Schiphol. Wielinga: ‘All the furniture has to meet the strict standards for fire safety and our goals for sustainability. Anything guests use, will be used a lot, intensively and over a long period of time.’

As in the previous design, the VIP centre once again serves as a showcase for Dutch Design. In the new interior, guests can have a seat on a Maarten Baas barstool, one of Lensvelt's own furniture designs in this project.
In the context of re-use and sustainability, the team at Marcel Wanders studio chose to keep some of the older furniture pieces. Among them are a chair by Studio Job and a cabinet by Piet Hein Eek. Not only were they still in a very good state, they’ve become icons over time.