CASE STUDY
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JUSTIN RATCLIFFE
Having spent five years as an in-house designer with Heesen Yachts before setting up Omega Architects in 1995, Frank Laupman has worked closely with the shipyard since the 1980s. His exterior styling for 65m Galactica Star, in particular, represents a new departure for both the designer and the brand.
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t was Jan Gremmen, the former commercial director at Heesen, who first recognised the design talent of Frank Laupman and advised the young designer to contact Pieter Beeldsnijder. The veteran yacht designer was impressed and offered Laupman a job at his design office, where he collaborated on early projects such as 43m Luisamar and 50m Jefferson Beach (now Braveheart). Armed with knowledge and experience, Laupman was hired by Heesen in 1983. Since then, his exterior designs have been instrumental in establishing Heesen’s brand image. “The biggest design challenge [with Galactica Star] was to move away from the recognised platforms, because you have to deny what has almost become a part of yourself,” admits Laupman. The exterior design developed from an 80m concept with a reverse bow he was already working on at a time when Heesen was considering the acquisition of a facility in Rotterdam to build superyachts over 65 metres. “The problem with such a big boat was how to make it conform with the sporty look that Heesen clients expect,” explains the designer. “The solution in my initial concept was to have a very compact superstructure, while the dramatic arches in the stern connecting the hull and superstructure were a way of balancing the shape of the bow.” Although this early concept was well received, Heesen was keen to retain more of the brand’s signature design motifs, such as the iconic pelican bow (so called because it resembles a pelican’s beak in profile) of its semi-displacement series designed by Omega Architects. In the meantime, another leading European designer was also asked to submit an exterior proposal for the project, now fixed at 65 metres and based on the Fast Displacement Hull Form (FDHF) from Van Oossanen Naval Architects. This competition spurred Laupman to follow a more daring path and the client eventually opted for his design, which combines clean and contemporary lines with just a hint of historic Heesen. Laupman’s early sketches already revealed a superstructure profile with very few overhangs that rises to an apex almost exactly above the centre of the hull. This balanced form is underscored by the windows on the main and upper decks, which have inclined edges slanting upwards towards the radar mast. Laupman likens its shape in profile to a streamlined helmet, similar to those used 18
JUSTIN RATCLIFFE
“The biggest design challenge [with Galactica Star] was to move away from the recognised platforms, because you have to deny what has almost become a part of yourself.� 19
by speed cyclists to improve their aerodynamics. Low and sleek, it avoids the stacked look of many superyachts and tempers the vertical height of the superstructure by emphasising the horizontal length of the hull. “My first work experience as a yacht designer with Pieter Beeldsnijder taught me something I’ve never forgotten,” Laupman recalls. “He told me that you need to have at least one uninterrupted line that extends from the bow to the stern.” In the case of Galactica Star, Laupman put this tip to good use when he devised the graceful architraves in the stern connecting the hull and superstructure, which initiate a line extending all the way to the tip of the bow. These two arches define the yacht’s distinctive profile, but the same features introduced a technical issue that had to be resolved before the design could be finalised. Any hull, especially one made of aluminium, will flex in certain sea conditions. The arches increase the transmission of these torsional forces into the superstructure and had to be calculated by the naval architects. In addition to the 65m flagship, Laupman worked with Heesen on the exterior styling for the latest 55m FDHF, 45m sports boat and 42m FDHF with Hull Vane, which represent the brand’s new fleet in the wake of the hugely successful 37m, 44m and 47m platforms. “However successful a product might be, it has to evolve and develop,” says Laupman. “We’ve come to know what to expect from
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Heesen in the past and it’s part of my duty as a designer to keep things looking fresh.” A 50m project in build at Heesen with a plumb bow engineered by Van Oossanen Naval Architects is evidence of this evolution, a process that Laupman describes as “crossing borders”. Created for a repeat Heesen client, his exterior design for the yacht reveals none of the flowing lines we have come to expect from the Dutch shipyard, yet exudes the same sporty image as its predecessors. Laupman expanded on the pressure to innovate last year in Amsterdam at the Vripack PechaKucha event, in which yacht designers present 20 images, each for 20 seconds, as they talk along to the images. “Superior and differentiated products are the ones that deliver unique value to their customers,” he pointed out and went on to describe how the earlier Heesen platforms eventually reached saturation after selling 30 units in the space of 10 years. New markets meant design values were changing and this required diversifying the platforms to offer more choice. Happening in a buyer’s market at a time of global recession and with rival Amels enjoying success with its Limited Editions series, designer and shipyard alike were motivated to diversify and grow the product range. Taking this message to heart, Omega Architects has broadened its own client base and is working on projects for Storm Yachts and Mulder Shipyard in Holland, Aria Yachts in Turkey and CRN in Italy, among others. For CRN the studio designed the exterior of the 73m currently in build and its 9.5m limo tender (the aluminium tender by Hutting
“However successful a product might be, it has to evolve and develop. We’ve come to know what to expect from Heesen in the past and it’s part of my duty as a designer to keep things looking fresh.”
JEFF BROWN
GALACTICA STAR HEESEN YACHTS ALIA 30M
ALIA 30M, MAIN SALON
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HEESEN 45M
HUTTING YACHTS 9.5M LIMO
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