28 Design
The SuperYacht Times | March / April 2016
Maintaining a low Omega Architects balance recognition, identity and
Established in the Netherlands in 1995, the Dutch design studio Omega Architects celebrated their 20th anniversary last year. Headed by Frank Laupman, hundreds of vessels have come from the drawing board of Omega Architects over the years, including several notable winners of the prestigious World Superyacht Awards. We recently sat down with Laupman, who explained his love for design and branding as well as offered an insight into the younger generation of designers preparing for the future of the company.
Top: Heesen’s Galactica Star - Bottom: Heesen’s MySky
Gemma Fottles - interview by Merijn de Waard
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lthough not born into the maritime industry like many of his professional peers, Frank Laupman grew up in an environment that embraced and encouraged creativity and success. Both his parents were acknowledged manufacturers in Holland with design orientated careers of their own; his mother an interior architect, his father an electrical engineer that utilised his passion for music to design amplifiers and control systems. It was in these early years when Laupman would help his father with the designing of amplifiers that he discovered a love for industrial design and, in particular, branding. He comments, “I developed my love for industrial design, which is about branding. You have to know what your identity is, and which product suits your identity and where you can go to create another identity to, perhaps, better ourselves or be in a better place in the market.” Confident in his place in the world of design, Laupman went on to work with Pieter Beeldsnijder for many years. Around 25 years ago, his attention was turned to Heesen Yachts, where his love for branding would be put to the test for five years and bear a fruitful relationship that still exists in all its advantageousness today. At the age of 40, Laupman decided that it was now or never to go it alone, and thus, Omega Architects
was born. Going solo as a designer came with its own complex implications, however, the first of which being the brand’s personal identity. Though he had already established a passion for branding, Laupman had to decide what kind of designer he wanted to be: a designer who is a brand unto himself - not unlike
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who am I?” As can be clearly seen from Laupman’s extensive portfolio of superyacht designs, he decided to go with his heart, and he chose the latter of the aforementioned designer identity profiles. Commenting on his decision, he says. “This is wrong for a guy who wants to develop his
The first 100 yachts created a consistent heritage of their own, but then suddenly there was Galactica Star. The artistic meaning of the end result has just little connection to the brief and I think that’s interesting.
the late, great Jon Bannenberg - or, a designer who uses his talents to skilfully design for existing brands. Laupman elaborates: “I founded my office and Heesen asked if I could continue doing design work for them. My heart is in branding and platforms. So this was difficult for me at first. I had to ask myself:
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dream, because a dream is not a product. His dream is his dream. He may call it a yacht, but it’s very custom; it’s what he wants to express, what he wants to develop for himself.” Over the past 20 years, Laupman has worked closely with several shipyards, and has done exactly what he set out to do: create
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platforms that not only adhere to and compliment a brand’s existing identity, but contribute to solidifying and developing that identity further. This conscious dedication to the development of these brands has developed into an assuring self-confidence in Laupman. He is a designer who knows who he is, and he knows that by working together with other designers and shipyards, he can be stronger and, in turn, offer a stronger product. In Laupman’s ideal world, shipyards and designers would work much more closely together than they currently do. “Does it make a better world [working with multiple designers]? No, I don’t think that. It could have been each company has his designer - Bannenberg, I think, worked for Oceanfast - same thing. It’s not bad. It’s maybe quieter for everybody. You travel to the same guy, you do your work. As long
as you have your exposure and respect. Now, everybody is moving everywhere. It’s very restless and sometimes confusing.” Despite shipyards more often than not opting to work with multiple designers and architects, it does not seem to have much affected Laupman’s success. Regardless of his self-professed ‘low-profile status,’ he has created a number of superyachts that not only demand attention and recognition, but deserve it. Just a couple of Omega Architects’ vessels that fit this description are the 51 metre MySky completed in 2014, and the renowned 65 metre Galactica Star, completed in 2013. Both were built by Heesen, with both winning titles in that years’ edition of the World Superyacht Awards. The combination of these awards and the all-important willingness of the owners to have their new superyacht thrust into the
Design 29
The SuperYacht Times | March / April 2016
profile
Frank Laupman on…
the generation gap in design
Inspiration: “Most of the time my inspiration comes from lifestyle or fashion magazines, from somebody who introduces a fashion line and how they market it, or the thinking behind the marketing of dresses with a designer of shop interiors… these things inspire me the most. It’s mostly on the edge between marketing and product design, but honesty also inspires me.”
The American market: “We are also doing designs for people who like to travel the Caribbean. For this market it has to have a certain price range, a certain volume, a certain expectation in speed, a certain versatility. That’s difficult. One size fits all is the most difficult assignment you can get.”
Superyacht design: “At the moment we are trying to ‘bridge’ the gap between an ‘explorer’ and a superyacht. Both types have become icons and either of them can serve the purpose of exploring the seas. The focus to either visit cosmopolitan harbours or run up the Amazon River with specialised toys all depends of the owner. We are trying to bridge that gap, developing concepts.”
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This is wrong for a guy who wants to develop his dream, because a dream is not a product. His dream is his dream.
beaming brightness of the industry spotlight means that the low-profile element of Laupman’s work is more and more difficult to maintain. As Laupman states, nobody would associate big boats with Omega Architects until the completion of the 65 metre Galactica Star in 2013. “The first 100 yachts created a consistent heritage of their own, but then suddenly there was Galactica
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Star. There was a general technical brief, with block diagrams to give direction. The artistic meaning of the end result has just little connection to the brief and I think that’s interesting.” With more work comes more responsibility, and a greater need for tighter, more structured management. And here is the Catch 22 that the leaders of many small,
successful design studios are presented with: how do you achieve the fine balance between being the creator, the manager, and the leader? This is an excessively difficult skill to master, and even Laupman, head of one of the most successful design studios in the superyacht industry, admits that there are certain areas of this that he could improve upon. He notes admiration for Dickie Bannenberg and the way that he has handled the Bannenberg legacy following his father’s passing and assigning himself to be in a position of leadership, while the other half of the namesake, Rowell, was designated the creative side of the business. “Dickie Bannenberg managed to take over from his father without an identity problem. He had to accept that his father was probably the best designer ever, and ran it as a manager and leader. He granted a substantial part of
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design credits to his partner and designer Simon Rowell, a very good interior designer.” At 60 years old, Laupman didn’t shy away from admitting that the younger generation can bring something to solving this conundrum in terms of innovation of management, creativity and design in general, and when asked if it’s possible for one person to be all of the above, he openly states, “Can you be the three of them? Yes, but we know that you will be working at the tip of your toes to make the office run successfully and design at the same time.” He goes on to say that right now at Omega Architects, “the moment has come to coach my younger designers, and run my part.” The younger generation in question include two designers hailing from Holland, both of whom are in their early 20s. Speaking of new designers coming to Omega in the
near future as well as addressing the longevity of his role at the brand, he says, “We have young project coordinators and a specialist when it comes to press and communication in a team of ten people. They present fresh new ideas that enable the brand to avoid stagnation and continue to grow and develop by the side of, and sometimes ahead of, the ever-changing world around us.” With a progressively blooming relationship with private owners, several projects currently being undertaken by high profile shipyards, and a clear strategic plan to persevere in the innovation of superyacht design, the industry can expect Omega Architects to continue to flourish for years to come.