[ CREATIVE MINDS: OMEGA ARCHITECTS ]
“W by Heather Prentice - ph. courtesy of Omega Architects
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e go with our creativity. We don’t sleep
look. “My background is in creating products so I like
that much. We wake up and we tend to write down
working with shipyards but I can’t deny that the artistic,
things. My sketchbook is always with me.” This is how
intuitive aspect is probably the most interesting part of
Frank Laupman, one of the most prolific and best-known
our work,” he says.
yacht designers around today, describes the process of his
Laupman studied architecture at the Technical University
extraordinary creative flair. Designs from the Dutch-born
in Eindhoven. He was influenced by the New York Five,
Laupman, founder of Omega Architects, grace several
who championed architectural modernism, and, among
fleets of yachts, notably Dutch yard Heesen for whom
others, the German-born industrial designer Luigi Colani,
he has designed over 100 yachts, as well as Mulder, Alia
whose biodynamic rounded forms astounded the world.
Yachts and ICT Yachts in Turkey and Italian yard CRN.
Upon graduation, he worked for Heesen as an in-house
His designs are a clear statement and his style tends
designer and manager for 10 years. He then founded
to focus on a clean-cut, dynamic, sporty profile but he
Omega Architects in 1995 and has never looked back.
succeeds in creating both a signature style and a custom
In the past 20 years his designs have won numerous
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awards, notably with yachts such as Satori, Quinta Essentia and Galactica Star for Heesen and Yalla for CRN. He also designs houses, offices and even gardens. Some of his latest work has been designing the new OceanSport series for CRN, although six of his yachts for Heesen are also due to be launched this year and next, as is a new series for Mulder. “Omega Architects is the first non-Italian, Northern European design company that has been invited to think about the CRN identity. The new OceanSport design had to feature an identity, comparable with the award-winning 74m Yalla, but be very different at the same time. And to do so not only for a 75m, but also for a 61m and 52m, all based on CRN platforms,” explains Laupman. “We have developed a rational system to explore developing the heritage of a client, which areas to focus on. We develop this intuitively, but also rationally.” The OceanSport concept has two elements fused into one design: the typical sporty Omega profile characteristic and the ocean-going properties of the CRN hull, translated into a ship-like exterior. “With the OceanSport series, we had to add
Opening page: Frank Laupman, the charming founder of Omega Architects; a sketch of the of the 75-metre OceanSport designed by Omega Architects for CRN Yachts. This pages: above, left, the indoor wellness area; above, right, the sleek and elegant low profile of the 75m OceanSport. The integrated hull and body features a distinctive arch at the stern, connecting inside and outside spaces aft in a stunning and unique splitlevel arrangement. Right: the owner’s suite on the upper deck
a design innovation as well, and we managed to do so with the unique split level beach club arrangement,” he adds. The design features an integrated hull and body, Omega’s trademark, with
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[ CREATIVE MINDS: OMEGA ARCHITECTS ]
a distinctive arch connecting the inside and outside spaces aft in a unique split-level arrangement. There is an infinity pool on a split-level deck between the main aft deck and the swimming platform. The exterior features a near vertical bow, styled into the existing hull lines of the platforms. “As a designer, you have to find a balance between expressing what the owner wants to
A view from the stern of the unique beach club (above) a with the lounge on the main deck in the background and an open-air infinity pool situated flush with the split-level deck. A side view of the profile (below), showing the expansive areas of black glass, giving the yacht its elegant, dynamic look. Of note are the signature arches at the stern
do and how we see the artistic design ourselves. The balance is the interesting part.�
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