SUMU DESIGN have been announced as a shortlisted company at the International Yacht & Aviation Awards 2015. The Qantas Hong Kong Lounge will compete for the Airport Lounge/Terminal Award.

The brief from Qantas was to reflect a new boutique style concept representing Hong Kong through its design, and taking cues from the design developed for the Qantas Singapore Lounge.

Hong Kong is the perpetual Asian city: a fluid, swiftly evolving metropolis surrounded by stunning wilderness. It is a vibrant, vertical city split by an expanse of water and surrounded by clam and nature. Hong Kong also represents both a vital business gateway and a home away from home for a large international business community. This was the concept and vision that influenced both the planning and architecture of the lounge, in which the Qantas Hong Kong lounge became a metaphor of Hong Kong.

Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island and are represented by the bar and dining areas which capture the vibrancy, movement and interaction of people. Surrounded by these elements, there is a calm and relaxed atmosphere. The lounge areas in turn represent the natural landscape and beaches that surround the built-up zones of the city.

The verticality of Hong Kong is embodied within the building’s large steel structures. The structures are used to break up the 120m-long, 2,000 sq. m site, creating intimate, private and secluded spaces for customers. These structures reference the steel signage structures fixed to the sides of buildings within the city area. Meanwhile the canopies pay homage to the city’s side streets where small eating-houses and stalls provide privacy and escape from the bustling city while still remaining connected to the action.