How the A380 almost had a split-level first class ‘loft’ suite

Etihad Airways’ A380 elevated first class flying to new levels of luxury with its The Residence suite in 2014.

Secreted away at the very front of the upper deck, ahead of the conventional first class cabin and behind sliding French doors, The Residence offered a spacious ‘living room’ with a 1.5m two-seat Poltrona Frau leather sofa, full-length wardrobe, its own bathroom and shower, plus a seperate bedroom.

The bedroom in Etihad's A380 The Residence.

This three-room penthouse above the clouds was fully private, impeccably decorated, and had a butler trained at London’s The Savoy Hotel on call throughout the flight.

The living room in Etihad's A380 The Residence.

Ten years on, Etihad’s superlative superjumbo is still flying to London and New York, and The Residence remains a definitively indulgent experience – although it’s now treated as a US$2,500+ upgrade for first class flyers (and you no longer get a butler) rather than being sold as its own US$20,000 twin-fare ticket.

Etihad's A380 The Residence was created as a suite for two.

But The Residence could have been even more spectacular – it was originally conceived as a split-level loft spread across both floors of the A380.

One of the early design treatments for The Residence.
Etihad Design Consortium

The living room and bathroom were located on the main deck, with a staircase leading to a bedroom on the top deck.

This innovative exercise by Factorydesign was part of Etihad’s early ‘blue sky’ approach to the A380 project, which aimed do nothing less than re-imagine commercial flying, and was later evolved by Acumen into the single-deck supersuite we know today.

A concert sketch of The Residence bedroom.
Etihad Design Consortium

However, concept images produced for the Etihad Design Consortium by agencies Acumen, Factorydesign and Honour Branding show how that journey included a ‘studio apartment’ approach, with two facing lounges in one half of the suite and the double bed in the other…

A concept treatment for The Residence as a 'studio' suite.
Etihad Design Consortium

… or with a long L-shaped settee down one side of the suite, and the bed located behind a frosted pane.

A concept treatment for The Residence as a 'studio' suite.
Etihad Design Consortium

(Etihad even asked Airbus if it was possible to remove the front staircase connecting the upper and lower decks, to free up more space for The Residence, but the planemaker advised the staircase also played an important structural role on the A380’s framework.)

Etihad's well-appointed A380 first class Apartment suites remain among the best in the sky.

Various treatments for the superjumbo’s nine spacious first class Apartments were also considered, including this railway-style compartment where the seat – flanked by a closet and bench containing a mini-bar – was set back into a ‘soundproofed cocoon’ with speakers on either side.

A concept sketch exploring options for the first class Apartment.
Etihad Design Consortium

Etihad also pioneered the A380’s first class cabin having just one central aisle – a layout which Singapore Airlines later used – which in one design adopted a dramatic sweeping curve.

Designers pondered this curved aisle in Etihad's A380 first class cabin.
Etihad Design Consortium

Similarly, the lounge area went through many iterations, from a largely empty area between first and business class…

At one stage, The Lobby looked more like, well, a lobby...

… to a self-contained sitting area which could accommodate over a dozen passengers, along the same lines as the Arabian sitting room or Majlis which served as inspiration for the space…

The Lobby as a Majilis-themed sitting room and social space.
Etihad Design Consortium

... to a ‘lobby lounge’ with seating on either side of the cabin.

Another concept treatment for The Lobby.
Etihad Design Consortium

Etihad eventually landed on refining the Majlis concept into a semi-circular social space dubbed The Lobby, to serve as both a lounge and a bar that doesn’t look like a bar.

The Lobby remains popular Etihad's A380 business class passengers.

Also read: How these early Airbus A380 concepts hinted at the shape of superjumbo suites to come