4 fields that influence yacht designers

Many designers begin their career penning everything from aircraft to furniture before taking a leap into yacht design - and there are plenty of established yacht designers who have famously turned their hand to other industries, too. Since a budding young designer has much to gain from working in other fields to nurture their talent, we investigate the four most relevant and exciting industries that would foster such design development:

1. Aircraft design

It's not unusual to hear of yacht designers working on aircraft, though there is one name that epitomises the convergence between aircraft and yacht design: Winch Design. Andrew Winch’s office recently unveiled a striking concept blending his firm’s areas of expertise: a 100-metre trimaran concept with a beam wide enough for a tiltrotor aircraft landing deck. The 21-metre beam is designed to accommodate an Agusta Westland 609 and includes the volume necessary to house the craft.

"The one thing you definitely know with an aircraft when the project crosses your table is its dimensions. It can only be a set length and a set width,’ says Winch Design’s aircraft design department director Jim Dixon. ‘With a luxury yacht, the owner’s ambitions may grow in scale while the yacht is still on the drawing board and you find you have another ten metres in length to deal with.

"The technical details of designing for private and corporate jets are significantly more constraining than they are for a yacht or residence," he continues, explaining that FAA and EASA rulings for safety as well as weight restrictions are of paramount importance.

Designer Igor Lobanov, who received his training in automotive design before moving into yacht design, recalls the Bombardier Global Express jet he designed in 2005.

"A designer must quickly adapt to the scale and nature of the vehicle he is designing," Lobanov says. "The airplane project taught me plenty about working in a very restricted sphere when very little can be changed. The rules and restrictions with airplanes are tremendous!"

Lobanov says that continuous adaptation allows him to switch between a 24-metre yacht design and a 140-metre design and he advises young designers to always consider the curvature of the surfaces and lines in relation to the yacht’s scale.

Luc Donckerwolke, former director of design and styling at Bentley Motors, once drew for Boat International a Bentley-inspired powerboat concept. "I tried to maintain elegance through balance and tension… just as I do with car design," Donckerwolke explained. "The interesting thing to me was the similarities between designing a yacht and a car: the investing of emotion in a function-oriented process."

Famed car designer Chris Bangle, former chief of design for BMW, now lends his expertise as well as his styling to new concepts on the boards for Italian yacht builder Sanlorenzo. "If the goal of the yacht’s design is to have the client identify with it…I would say there are many similarities to my experience as a car designer. If instead the goal is to have the creative person’s signature… then this is closer to my experience as an artist."

Emotion. Artistic Expression. These basic elements of design bridge the gap between yacht design and automobile design, and indeed many other genres. Yet one element also relates – and limits – the two: constraint.

"I’ve always had a passion for car design," says Tim Heywood. His concept for a 1930s-inspired Bespoke Coupe (above) "incorporates much of my design philosophy, which is to produce sculptural, feminine forms that are constrained by function and production techniques."

Timur Bozca, winner of the 2015 Young Designer of the Year award, put his degree in automotive & transport design to use before turning his attention to yacht design. He acknowledges that limited space in both dictates that each centimetre must be utilised in ergonomic harmony. His experience with the many processes incorporated to perfect a car’s surface — from concept development to clay modelling to 3-D digital surface modelling in Class-A standards — leads him to pay considerable attention to surfaces in his yacht projects.

Long exemplifying the ultimate in craftsmanship, furniture design finds its way into the portfolios of many leading yacht designers and often becomes a necessary part of the yacht design process.

Yacht designers like Bannenberg & Rowell have added bespoke furniture design to their list of services, utilising their knowledge of space and functionality requirements to create yacht-specific pieces. Residential and yacht designer Alberto Pinto’s legacy lives on through the Alberto Pinto agency, which has launched a collection of namesake furniture, many pieces from which find their way into yacht interiors.

Renowned yacht interior designer Remi Tessier began his career as a cabinetmaker in the late 1970s and incorporated that knowledge of spatial relationships and materials into his award-winning yacht interiors. Each Remi Tessier design features at least one bespoke piece of furniture crafted by the French designer.

Similarly, furniture and residential designer Christian Liaigre began working on yacht projects over a decade ago. His simple, modernist style has garnered numerous awards for his projects such as the 56-metre Perini Navi Rosehearty and the 67-metre Alloy Vertigo.

Of the transition between the two genres Liaigre says, "The function of the boat gives an aesthetic you cannot escape from. We have to work around so many restrictions, but sometimes it is the restrictions which provide the inspiration."

Benjamin Toth, winner of the 2012 Young Designer of the Year award, says that working between several areas of design spurs the creative process. His portfolio includes not only yacht design, but product and residential projects as well. "Shifting between projects that demand completely different dimensions, inspirational themes and technical requirements nurtures and enhances the power and output of my lateral thinking."

Toth’s experience in yacht design helps him with projects that require an efficient use of space and his residential clients appreciate the depth of detailing, use of materials and quality of finishes he selects. One such project is the 'Kleinod-Bar' in Vienna, for which Toth specified a bespoke bar and furnishings that merge influences of Art Deco and modern industrial chic with the styling of 1920s Viennese coffeehouses. For materials he selected ananas-onyx marble, chesterfield leather and dark woods complemented by 'patina-d' brass elements.

Young Designer of the Year 2010 award winner Adam Voorhees works equally between furniture, residential and yacht design. "The obvious similarity is that in all three disciplines, the end goal is to create engaging experiences; the design must develop a meaningful narrative for the intended users," he says. "Furniture design is a poem, whereas residential and yacht design is a multiple-act play. Each discipline has the intimate relation to 'person' – an understanding of human scale; how people operate and understand physical space.

"For me," Voorhees continues, "yachts are the most challenging and rewarding as the design must develop these compelling experiences as well as address the demands of technical, performance and safety requirements, while surviving in an ever-changing environment!"