EARTH,LAND AND RAINFOREST

Bamboo Groves

Sam Sorgiovanni reveals the thought process behind his approach to designing the impressive build: 

“The client’s brief was very clear, ‘create the most impressive yacht of its type’. A huge challenge when we consider the many stunning and impressive yachts in this 80-90m size range…Unique, individual and stylistically distinctive are all words that come to mind when describing my objectives in the creation of the design that is this 88m superyacht.”

Sam’s conceptual inspirations for this superyacht were the elements of earth, land and rainforest, using more than 178 different materials, including woven bronze, ironwood, nickel, stainless steel, silk, onyx, zebrano and shells.

One of the most spectacular features on the main deck is the two reptile tanks, surrounded by illuminated bamboo columns and walls, that house human-friendly water dragons and chameleons.

Producing the bamboo groves in the columns and walls meant we had to encapsulate each leaf, twig and stem, then float the assemblage in clear resin. Having multiple overlapping stems of bamboo provide depth and density. The back-lighting was particularly challenging as the panels had to be completely clear, without a single air bubble, whereas each bamboo stem largely comprises air filled pockets.

The aphorism has never been applied to emerging from an eggshell bathtub!  While eggshell inlay is an Asian heritage skill going back thousands of years and we have been keen advocates of its revival and rejuvenation, we had never been asked to apply it to a bathtub, both in and out. Extensive Research and Development went into making it fit for purpose.

The bathtub stands on a flooring of cow bone. Each bone fragment was individually hand-worked. The fragments were discarded from larger pieces that had a market value for buttons, handles and other handcrafts.