Do you ever struggle with the fact that you know what is needed for the future success of the company? But that your manager still needs to be convinced? And by that, we mean ‘really convinced’. That was also the case when the plans for renovating Schiphol were unfolded. KLM would simply move the existing lounge. Fine in itself, but Tiddo Veldhuis, currently Director Innovation and Optimisation Digital, thought: “Isn’t that a missed opportunity?”. Together, we took on the challenge to develop an innovative concept for the KLM Crown Lounge.

Our expert connectors got to work and asked the most inspirational experts from the fields of neuroscience, design, hospitality, trend analysis and luxury travel, to think along during our ‘rooftop’ co-creation session. Imagine dreaming about this future lounge together with the best and brightest from De Hermitage, Citizen M, KPN, Staat, Bugaboo and more… a real treat! During this inspiring day, we worked according to the Fronteer methodology. Together we created the concept for a new Crown Lounge. A destination of its own, that will inspire passengers to make extra efforts and fly via Schiphol.

The new KLM Crown Lounge is a breakthrough concept for a lounge, based on a city with distinct neighbourhoods that cater to travellers with different needs, desires and ‘time-zones’. Next to that: innovative business models in hospitality were developed to make the plans feasible. After all, aren’t we all willing to spend something extra on food that is really good? A mind-shift in the world of airline lounges! This made the board of KLM realise to shift investment. Award-winning architects CONCRETE translated the concept into design and realisation. The new Crown Lounge was opened in the course of 2019 with a grand opening ceremony on November 28th, 2019.