The One July, August, September 2015 article Asya

[ MEGAYACHT ]

Asya A dramatic, new 47-metre by Heesen Yachts. The restyled contemporary exterior design by Frank Laupman of Omega Architects complements the beautiful, harmonious interior with a Far Eastern feel by Bannenberg & Rowell

by Heather Prentice - pictures by David Churchill

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Pictured here: the stern dining area on the sundeck with the table designed by Bannenberg

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stunning, graceful, predatory lady, Asya is a yacht to be reckoned

Ando, the interior has a calm, restful, Far Eastern

& Rowell and custom made by

with. With a dramatic profile, she gives the impression of

feel and focuses on the purity of a combination

Heesen craftsmen. Opposite

continuous forward motion as if straining to be off. Her interior is a

of form and function. The working title for the

page: the sundeck with bar

haven of purity and calm, a shimmering, sensual place that is a wonder

interior was Hé, which in Chinese means harmony.

and Jacuzzi towards the bow.

to relax in. Asya has all the mystery and charm of a great doyenne.

The materials were chosen for their restful feel

Opening page: the main lounge

Custom built by pedigree Dutch yard Heesen Yachts on a tested

and contrast light and dark woods with mid-gloss

looking out to the stern cockpit,

platform, Asya is the second 47-metre yacht to undergo a significant

lacquer, silks, bronze and polished stainless steel

with chaise longue by Meridiani

restyling. The first, Elena, won the World Superyacht Awards this year.

accents. The main woods throughout are silver

Frank Laupman of Omega Architects has designed more contemporary

grey oak, Macassar ebony for the furniture and

external lines, with a sharp Pelican bow and streamline superstructure

bleached white oak and American black walnut

in black and white. He drew Asya with more body to the exterior to

for the wall timbers. Much of the furniture,

make her look bolder, as well as giving her cleaner lines in the forward

particularly the main pieces like the dining and

section of the yacht. The displacement, steel-hulled yacht now has a

coffee tables and the built-in elements, is designed

larger, more distinctive window on the forward deck and the rescue

by Bannenberg & Rowell and custom-made

tender is housed in an enclosed bay in front of the wheelhouse – no

by Heesen craftsmen. The clever, atmospheric

mean feat in a yacht of under 500 GT. He also restyled the stature of

lighting, by Contardi and Delightful, sees shafts

the exterior to give Asya more “optical weight”. In short, a stronger,

of glowing light fall on different places to give a

more dramatic profile. Continuous glued glass windows and matching

soft, uplifting feel. Throughout, the light beige and

black paintwork on the main and upper decks add to her dramatic,

cream carpets are by Oliver Treutlein with fabrics

almost predatory look.

by Dedar, Sahco, Holland & Sherry, Elitis, Bruno

The interior, by the award-winning London-based designers

Triplet and Loro Piana, and leathers by Foglizzo.

Bannenberg & Rowell, is a masterpiece of harmonious design. Inspired

The main saloon, with a dining area towards the

by the works of German industrial designer Dieter Rams, American

bow, features warm khaki colours with highlights

architect Frank Lloyd-Wright and self-taught Japanese architect Tadao

of sunset orange set within a neutral backdrop.

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Another image of the sundeck looking to the stern.

Right: the dramatic, contemporary exterior lines of Asya, designed by Frank Laupman

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the sofas by Minotti, chaise longues by Meridiani and dining chairs by

skylounge and relaxing space forward and in the stern

Autobahn, add to the sophisticated ambience. Contardi floor lamps add

cockpit on the main deck. All the exterior furniture is by

a Far Eastern touch. The skylounge is in purples and mauves within a

Summit and Paola Lenti.

light setting with accents of orange. Large circular sofas are designed by

Delivered to her owners in March, Asya is an oasis for

Bannenberg & Rowell and custom-made by Sinn Living, while the floor

her 12 guests, who are welcomed in a full-beam master

lamps are by Roche Bobois. There is also a card table by the designers

suite, two double cabins and two twins with Pullman

and made by William Yeoward. The master suite features pale blue and

beds. A top speed of 15 knots ensures they can always

violet colours while the guest cabins are in light blues and lilacs. The

make it to lunch on time and in style.

exterior has a spacious sun deck as well as a terrace extending from the

www.heesenyachts.com

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The main lounge looking towards the bow, with the custom-made coffee and dining tables by Heesen craftsmen.

Throughout, the light beige and cream carpets are by Oliver Treutlein with fabrics by Dedar, Sahco, Holland & Sherry, Elitis, Bruno Triplet and Loro Piana, and leathers by Foglizzo

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Clockwise from top left: the skylounge with stern terrace, the custom-made gaming table in the skylounge. Delivered to her owners in March, Asya is an oasis for her 12 guests, who are welcomed in a full-beam master suite (left), two double cabins and two twins (right) with Pullman beds

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Bannenberg & Rowell Design The Interior Designers

courtesy of Bannenberg & Rowell Design

Pictured here: two renderings of the main lounge showing the complex, atmospheric lighting. The interior designers wanted to create an atmosphere embracing a calm, neutral and contemporary ambience. When the owner arrived on the scene in the final months of the build process was hugely in tune with the interior design concept and he made no changes. Opposite page: Dickie Bannenberg (left) and Simon Rowell

O

ne of the great things about working with Heesen on their spec yachts is that they give us the freedom to come up

with a concept. That, of course, is music to a design studio’s ears

white and silver grey oak, Macassar

and whilst we, of course, have to come up with something that is

ebony, Eramosa and Armani bronze

marketable and within the budget allowed by the yard, it gives us

marble and some textured limestone

the chance to set the creative direction of travel.

in the owner’s bathroom. There are

The new owner of Asya, when he arrived on the scene in the final

some punches of coloured glass in the

months of the build process, was hugely in tune with our interior

main saloon and Skylounge, offset

design concept to the extent that he made no changes. He and

by neutral fabrics and upholstery

his wife are young and sophisticated, and had previously owned

throughout.

a smaller yacht. He asked various questions about colour choices

There are some features that we

and textures, but said that the interior was entirely in line with

particularly like. There are some subtle

his own tastes.

interpretations of the stripped-down,

In terms of feeling, we wanted to create an atmosphere embracing

and proportion-led, strictures of Rams

a calm, neutral and contemporary ambience. We developed a

et al on board. The bedside tables in

working title for the project, after the Chinese word for harmony:

the guest cabins echo the proportions

Hé. This was intended to encompass an all-pervading restful and

of iPods whilst the cantilevered desk

accessible theme. We were also inspired by the designs of Dieter

in the owner’s Suite displays some

Rams, Frank Lloyd-Wright and Tadao Ando.

fluid curves which appear simple but,

To support the concept we wanted a palette of materials which

I suspect, caused Heesen quite a few

exuded that same sense of calm and restfulness. So we have

headaches to build!

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A

sya, number 11 of the 47-metres, is like number 10: redesigned to please the 2015 eye. Learning from the motoryacht Sky, a

one-off (custom) 50-metre, we sought to give more ‘body’ to the exterior, to make the vessel look bolder. The total stature of the exterior has become more like a ‘helmet’ or ‘egg-shape’ to match the required growth of ‘optical weight’ of the superstructure anno 2015.

However, we were not able to do that for the thin Pelican-bow to make it bolder as well.

Asya differs from the previous designs in the 47-metre displacement series in several ways. We made a more distinctive bigger window on the forward main deck and the scale of the total of openings changed to enhance the bolder look of the vessel.

We added several modern touches to the design, notably glued glass to the exterior windows in order to smoothen the exterior. According to the shipyard’s standards, this has always been costly, because Heesen wants to do this perfectly.

One of the features I am most pleased with is the mast. We changed the mast to be triangular, which creates a more balanced and ‘quiet’ pyramid shape sloping downwards and continued in front of and after the side windows on the wheelhouse deck. It also gives the

courtesy of Omega Architects

yacht more of a ‘gentleman’s look’. The mast would not add to ‘enclosed deck area’, which would grow the gross tonnage of the vessel.

We think that we literally ‘updated’ the design. She has this mix of classic lines and a contemporary touch, which makes her attractive for many Heesen clients and broadens the ‘niche’ for Heesen Yachts, traditionally known for fast yachts only.

Frank Laupman, Omega Architects The Yacht Designer

The Shipyard Mark Cavendish Head of Sales and Marketing

A

sya is the latest in the 47-metre line, which has had great success. This length of yacht is very popular

as it caters for the sector of the market below 500 gross tonnes. Aboard Asya there is a really good use of space and she is particularly comfortable, not to mention the stunning interior décor by Bannenberg & Rowell. Just amazing. We have now built 11 47-metres and the line is still evolving. The hull fundamentally hasn’t changed since the first one to launch in 2004, Yalla, although it has been made to be more efficient. We have also made significant improvements to the superstructure, profile and the engineering. Asya is the second of the restyled models, following the award-winning Elena, delivered in 2014. Both yachts have a restyled superstructure and profile to appeal to contemporary tastes and feature glued glass windows.

Asya has a softer profile and modern superstructure and, like the others, is extremely quiet with low vibrations and a very efficient hull. Asya can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots and has a long-distance cruising range of 4000 nautical miles at 12 knots. We hope she will be exhibited at the Dubai boat show 2016.

Heesen Yachts have 11 yachts in build at the moment. One is a 47-metre and another is a 50-metre, a sister ship to Satori. The 50-metre range has also been very successful for Heesen with five models already launched. In June, we launched a 50-metre fully custom steel-hulled motoryacht YN 17350 with the exterior design by Clifford Denn and the interiors by Reymond Langton. We also have a new 50-metre all-aluminium displacement yacht, with an extremely efficient hull that is due to be launched in 2017; at 10 knots we are forecasting a consumption of only 80 litres of fuel per hour. One exciting model under build is the 70-metre Project Kometa, an all-aluminium yacht with a fast displacement hull design, giving her a top speed of 30 knots. She is due to be delivered in 2016.

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