Virgin Galactic's Gateway to Space is here

Virgin Galactic have had their Gateway to Space building completely fitted out by London-based designers Viewport Studios.

The building was created by architecture firm Foster and Partners in 2011 and is part of Spaceport America – the world’s first commercial spaceport.

The Gateway to Space is based in the Jorndada del Meurto desert, New Mexico.

It has been designed with natural- tone spaces to “deliberately avoid the clichés of the space age”, with material choices in natural colours,” intended to reflect the warm desert environment surrounding the spaceport."

"Our team stood on the runway at Spaceport America and stared out to the New Mexico desert which is a stark and beautiful place, rich in colour and texture," said the studio, who worked alongside Virgin Galactic's in-house design team.

"The space should also reflect a strong sense of togetherness and allow for chance encounters."

"The brief from Virgin Galactic was very open, they just had the very particular requirement that the space should also reflect a strong sense of togetherness and allow for chance encounters," the studio told Dezeen.

Viewport Studios have already worked with Virgin in the past on the design of their Airbus A330 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts.  

The ground floor of the Gateway to Space is made up of sitting areas where staff and customers can eat and relax. Upstairs is an office space for the spaceflight operation teams. This floor has a more work-orientated design with a grey carpet and white desks and chairs.