IKEA Lounge Makes The Airport Temporarily Feel Like Home

People who have to wait for a connection at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris can now spend their time in an environment that feels like home. The Swedish furniture brand IKEA has opened a new VIP lounge that houses over 220-square meters of family-friendly space.

The IKEA lounge offers tired passengers a cosy environment where they can read or watch TV in a comfortable chair while waiting for their flight. Thanks to the nine (!) bedrooms it’s even possible to take a short nap. Meanwhile children can play in a dedicated area with certified entertaining professionals.

For an ordinary person the IKEA lounge will feel like his own house, as every house is filled with IKEA furniture these days. Even when you escape the daily routine of your own household you will still experience the ubiquitous IKEA style at the airport. For some people that’s great, while others think it’s too much, as we found out when we introduced the term IKEA Urbanism in November last year.

Is this just marketing, or does IKEA have plans to extend its activities to new areas — not in the direction of architecture or urbanism, but in the direction of airport business and travel experience?