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Sitting pretty in the airport lounge
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The often-unappreciated chairs in airport departure lounges are getting an overhaul by two of the biggest names in design. As passengers move from check-in through customs to the departure gates, few give any thought to a chair. But when the flight is delayed and you find yourself facing a long wait, it's a different story. The departure lounge chair must be indestructible, adding to the designers' challenge to create a seat that will make that unexpected stopover less stressful. "It has to be over-engineered because of the things that might go on," said Rodney Kinsman, managing director of London-based OMK Design. "Kids may use it as a springboard, it has to stand up to that kind of approach in terms of its structure. "This is the material which is virtually indestructible, you can jump on it and bounce on it. It is impervious to light, rain, heat and it is so impervious to fire you can actually put a cigarette out on it." Kinsman spends his days thinking about the functionality of airport chairs. His company has installed seating in more than 60 airports and numerous railway, ferry and bus stations. When Brussels airport asked him to update its seating, it demanded a product that prevented pick-pocketing from behind and something that would be resistant to slashing, burning, dismantling, using as a weapon and vandalism. So Trax Mark 2 became Kinsman's new line. For him, perforated metal has huge security advantages as nothing can be concealed under it. Its corrugation of little bumps also makes it harder to damage. Although his chair has to go through four government tests before it is installed, the proof is in the sitting. "Wouldn't it be lovely if we could design individual chairs in every individual place? The problem is that we're dealing with an international travel system where people move between these airports," said Kinsman. Fellow designer, Frenchman Philippe Starck, adds: "It's not the design which must become universal because we don't want the same thing everywhere, because we must like the difference. There is man, woman, there is big, tall, skinny." He has taken this approach to the Eurostar business lounge, giving it a nightclub feel rather than waiting room look. Eurostar is spending $50 million on a redesign where everything from cups to uniforms will be given the Starck treatment. Starck says his mission is to make travellers remember the decor and not the delays. "The businessman travels so much, everything must be very well done around him. We have worked two years just on the seat to give him a shell, protection, to give him the choice to speak or not speak."
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