“The main idea came from the very location of this panoramic restaurant, which is deservedly considered one of the highest in Moscow,” says architect Roman Leonidov. - The VIP-hall was originally supposed to be located above the main one: the Sky lounge restaurant itself is located on the 22nd floor of the Academy of Sciences, and in order to get into its new hall, one has to climb the stairs one more floor higher. These are former technical premises that have never been properly used before. The volume of the VIP room seems to float in the clouds, and we decided to support this illusion with various design means. The theme of the sky and clouds is reflected in the decoration, decorations, designer furniture."
The space of the former technical floor has an area of 100 square meters. And although formally this is one hall, the zoning in it is done so masterly that, in addition to the central common table, many additional cozy corners and nooks have appeared here, intended for small companies and couples who want to dine alone. The effect of a complex space, the structure of which is not immediately readable, is achieved due to a large number of reflective surfaces and a variety of lighting effects.
In particular, the column in the center of the hall is “wrapped” in dark gray tinted glass. With electric light, this rather massive structure works like a mirror, and a special lighting program and plasma panels located behind the glass turn the column into a unique sculptural lamp, on the surface of which, changing intensity and color, rows of light spots - “bubbles” light up. Many other columns, zoning the space of the hall, also function as lamps. All of them are decorated with white satin fabric, which can be freely draped under glass. Numerous folds and chiaroscuro creates the illusion of air currents and cumulus clouds - such as they appear not from the ground, but from the airplane window.
Architects Roman Leonidov and Zoya Samorodova also included the silhouette of a crescent in the interior: what is the sky without the Moon? This is the shape of the chandelier, which consists of a carved aluminum frame with 250 strands of glass beads. With the help of the latter, as you might guess, in the dark, the illusion of romantic twinkling of the stars is created - the light is reflected in numerous faceted pieces of glass. The main table of the hall is located under the chandelier - the architects claim that it also has the shape of a crescent, but in fact its appearance is more reminiscent of a surfboard, the one on which an experienced athlete maneuvers on the crest of a wave. The long tabletop has an aluminum frame, assembled like an airplane wing: it is made of white Corian and can be shortened or lengthened by means of plug-in center sections.
It is worth emphasizing that the architects made all the furniture of the VIP-hall white, in some cases with inserts of black corian. The white and black gamut, symbolizing day and night, generally dominates the interior of this room, and the color is introduced only due to RGB diodes. The floor of the hall is made of white porcelain stoneware, the walls are finished with white lacquered wood panels. The ceiling is painted dark gray, and in cases where the architects needed to hide communications, they used multi-level boxes with hidden lighting, trimmed with silver leaf.
