"These new jets are incredible works of art,"
says Andrew Winch, whose yacht design firm has experienced increasing aircraft
business in recent years. "They're engineering masterpieces, and it's our job
to create interiors as beautifully made as the rest of the aircraft."
Anecdotal evidence suggests a number of yacht interior designers
have done or are doing work on aircraft interiors. Winch and his 20-person design
firm in London have done several large-jet interiors including two Boeing Business
Jets, which are 737 variants, and a widebody Boeing 767. Last fall, the firm unveiled
a concept project with Lufthansa Technik for a VIP version of Boeing's new 787
Dreamliner. It has also done independent concept drawings for a VIP version of
the mammoth Airbus A380.
Winch and others contend they bring to the table a broader knowledge
of an owner's lifestyle needs than would
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a traditional aircraft interior designer, who may tend to view
aircraft more as a method of transportation than an extension of an owner's lifestyle.
They feel they bring fresh, outside-the-box ideas and solutions to the table born
of their experience designing on the larger canvas of superyachts. For instance,
if they're designing an aircraft interior for an existing yacht client, they naturally
will possess intimate knowledge of the owner's personal tastes and lifestyle preferences.
"We are plane designers and yacht designers, not decorators,"
says Winch. "Where we come in is to look at the character of life on a plane rather
than just the utility of it. If you sleep in a king-size bed at home, why not
do so on your plane?"
As is the case with yachts, the size of private aircraft in
recent years has crept up. Where once a Lear or a Falcon or a Gulfstream would
do, nowadays commercial-size or "transport category" aircraft are fast becoming
the air limousine CONTINUED > > >
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