We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Sarp Yachts about their original and creative Yacht Interior design work. Sarp Yachts is an award-winning architectural designer, that makes our world a better place with their original yacht interior works.
Sarp Yachts ("SY") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Aouda 63 Yacht Interior. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
SY : In simple words: the sea inside the vessel. Although the color pallet is light and coming from land, the idea was to make a picture of what could be below the yacht and taking it into the vessel itself. That’s the reason of water, visible at the main entrance and from the master cabin, and this is the reason of many texture used onboard.
SY : When designing a concept you always have to focus on a perfect balance between innovation and tradition. So this is what we tried to achieve: a new vessel, with an extremely personal interior design yet conservative from some point of view, to be realistically appealing to a new client.
SY : The aim is to present it to final clients when all technical aspects will be solved, in order to create a pre-engineered concept which could save precious time to the possible owner.
SY : It did not take as long as it usually does, because the main idea was born quite instantly when first thinking about it. The entire process, from designing details to material boards, lasted about 2 months.
SY : Many times, when designing this kind of concepts, you follow your pure inspiration and this was the case this time as well. It is the result of a team work of designers, engineers and other collaborators, who all gave their inputs into the project.
SY : This concept has been done in collaboration with the yard and our aim is to sell it in order to go into production as soon as possible. This process will be followed by the shipyard with our constant collaboration.
SY : Lucky coincidences: something read, or watched in the previous days or months. I couldn’t really say what this time the inspiration was coming from, it is always different. I would simply say our way of looking at the surrounding world.
SY : As I said before this is always a team work: in our studio there are ten people working on different aspects of each project, all of them with their own history and cultural inspirations which are always visible in their inputs. In this case we did not take influences by other designers, but sometimes it happens of course.
SY : An inspired owner, with some experience in yachting. It is a big vessel and the special design of its interiors pretends the target customer to be in his 40ties to 60ties, with other yachts owned before and with a great cultural curiosity.
SY : Its ways of being extremely modern yet elegantly classic at the same time. Its way of dividing spaces while still keeping them as a whole, like sometimes you can see in hotelier prokects: the entrance actually divides the main saloon from the outside space visibly, but then you can find a continuity in materials which immediately brings you back to consider that room as a single part with the aft deck. In master cabin we looked for the same effect: the long pool is almost intruding into the master cabin, as if the entire deck was the cabin itself.
SY : Naming is coming from the shipyard and it is a character in Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. This to emphasize the idea that this vessel may travel everywhere, anytime
SY : As always the tools are a combination of human capabilities and technology. So starting from a simple hand sketch and all the way to the final renderings; we used specific software for fluid dynamics calculations, for renderings, to create digital textures and many other details. Inalienable tools, but pencils and markers are anyway still on our table.
SY : The incredible relationship between interior and exterior spaces. As discussed in another part of this questionnaire the idea has always been to mix these two elements, playing with doors and windows as if they were mirrors. Where the master cabin really ends and where the exterior space really starts from? You can’t immediately tell. And this is the small magic we tried to achieve.
SY : The team involved into these kinds of projects is always quite wide and it comprehends designers, naval architects, engineers, light and video consultants, material experts and many others. All of these have been involved into this concept, both in our studio and at the shipyard technical department.
SY : Crucial, but in a non-visible way. We do not love too much to see the technology itself, but just the result of it. The importance for a client is to obtain what he wants without any complications: technology is present in the entire entertainment system, with everything controlled by remote
SY : When creating a new interior design concept you always start from something you cannot actually research for: an intuition that gives you the very first rough image in your mind. Then, after focusing on it, of course the research is fundamental. In this case we simultaneously searched for new materials such as the ocean mapped surfaces, furniture, and other design projects to give this project its final appeal. But at the same time inspiration comes from general data we always look for in specialized magazines, during meeting with other professionals or international congresses: in this case the use of space, with the main lounge areas facing out, both in the main saloon and in the master cabin, come from a new trend the market is telling us.
SY : The entire process went straight forward, I have to say. Because it has been mostly developed with my usual collaborators we did not encounter particular issues and the feeling with the yard has immediately been very positive.
SY : It is an important part of the design process, because it makes you focus on the final result, as for a ready client and the challenge, or the simple idea of it, with other international colleagues is an essential scope of each concept. It makes you believe and improve your ideas at the same time.
SY : Every project does make you learn more and this was no exception. We investigated the resin applied panels’ technique and it was for sure something new we didn’t work with before. But the use of water at the entrance of main deck was a challenge as well and solving these type of issue technically, while keeping a strong eye on the general design is always a way to improve your knowledge and design history.
SY : I think we went through most of the crucial aspects.
