
How can a megayacht interior be delivered for an owner’s approval nearly a year prior to the yacht itself being ready for its installation? When the “delivery” is a set of 3-D drawings.
That’s what Patrick Knowles Designs did recently with the interior of Blind Date, a 161-foot Trinity set for hand-over in 2009. As the images here reveal, the design team worked with 3-D artists to create realistic imagery of the main living spaces, down to fabrics, furnishings, lighting, and other accessories. They even collaborated on an animated virtual tour, “starting from an aerial exterior view-as if approaching the vessel aboard a helicopter-right on through a walking tour of each deck,” Patrick Knowles, principal of the design firm and creator of Blind Date’s interior, explains. “Without prior knowledge, most people cannot tell that what they’re looking at is virtual and not actual photography/videography of the completed vessel.”

This is Patrick Knowles Designs’ most extensive use of the technology so far, which Knowles believes has improved his team’s approach to projects. “My staff and I had to think of the design not as a concept, but an entity that already existed.”

The owner’s friends and family may feel that the yacht already exists when he shares the images with them (and what owner wouldn’t?). The goal for the interior is to convey the feeling of old Hollywood, specifically the 1940’s. Light-tone and shimmering textiles, marble, leather soles, and open-pore wood surfaces flow throughout the various rooms. The saloon, for example, is open to the dining room but effectively separated from it by a low-sitting, hand-stitched leather cabinet. A floor-to-ceiling wine cabinet in turn separates the dining area from the main-deck foyer. Four guest staterooms below decks and a split-level master on the main deck (immediately above) are also highlights of the interior. Outside, the sundeck (middle image) is being referred to as the “resort deck,” due to a hot tub with custom mosaic work, surrounded by lounges, dining spots, a wet bar, and loose furnishings aft. Canopies are being installed, too, for shade and for aesthetic appeal.
images: Patrick Knowles Designs
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