Architecture, which produced the general arrangement. “He really wanted
to do his own custom arrangement plan and not base it on any existing
platform, even if it might save him time,” says Azure’s Hugo van Wieringen,
who worked with the owner to develop the GA.
The bridge plus several crew cabins and offices catering to the yacht’s
operations are on the same deck as the owner’s office and the sky lounge,
but are completely separate from them. “In the owner’s office we have 3.5
meter ceilings,” Sorgiovanni told me. “So in the central area of the boat,
we’ve got these big opening doors and balconies that hinge down on both
sides to create a massive expanse.” The doors, made by German glass
specialist Tilse, are the largest Oceanco has ever installed. Automated,
weather-tight and flush-mounted, they slide away on an invisible track
first before sliding back, each a single pane of glass nearly 13 feet tall. Once
open, they allow fresh air to flow through the office. Balconies expand the
space even further, while waves dancing in the glass-bottom pool on the
sundeck send light bouncing all around the large room. Stairs on the port
side lead to a panoramic owner’s stateroom with a central skylight. This
amazing owner’s area is self-contained and private and, with its silk carpets
mimicking retreating waves, is an island sanctuary in itself.
Installing the doors and accounting for their weight and their interaction
with the metal was one of the build’s most challenging aspects. “At the
moment, according to the rules and regulations of the classification
society, glass is not part of the load-bearing structure,” says van Wieringen.
“That poses an extra challenge in calculation and design for a structure
with large windows and openings because Lloyd’s still requires all the
strength to come from the aluminum part of the structure, even if the glass,
of course, adds stiffness.” In addition, glass weighs a lot more than
aluminum and does not flex in the same way.
It was also an interesting engineering and build challenge for busy
Oceanco. “These particular doors could only be placed after the actual
[yacht] launch due to their enormous size,” says Paris Baloumis, Oceanco’s
group marketing manager. “A large crane was necessary to place the doors
after the teak and all the customized items were already installed.” A tender
was in radio contact with all passing commercial ships to ask them to slow
down to ensure precise positioning of the door.
The yard orchestrated the complex ballet of suppliers. “More than 1,000
craftsmen touched the yacht over the entire build process,” Baloumis adds.
F/List was the fit-out company responsible for the owner’s area interior,
and Sinnex tackled the main deck, which is dedicated to a large salon/
party space, dining and five guest cabins and suites.
Sorgiovanni designed the interior and most of the furniture and sourced
the artwork and the vast array of different materials, as unique as they are
remarkable. “The owners requested a relaxed, comfortable interior with
a rich blend of textures and natural materials to create a resort-like feel
that has become extremely popular with many of my clients,” Sorgiovanni
says. “This time we have gone for a resort/retreat feel, like a spa type of
environment that you find in the Asia Pacific region, with all natural
timbers and lots of exotic materials inside, such as pufferfish skin and
water buffalo horn. The idea was to make the interior very friendly and
relaxing, with bamboo ceilings, bamboo floors. We used fairly neutral
stones because we wanted to keep it very pure,” he says.
One of the most striking features, aside from the owner’s area, is the
glass elevator cum staircase. Seemingly growing out of the lower deck and
A unique hand-blown
icicle chandelier in
crystal glass is the
centerpiece above
the leather covered
games tables on the
wheelhouse deck;
the carpet has wave
patterns suggesting
the beach, and the
ceiling features
bamboo in a
weave pattern