Virgin Voyages to lift the veil on Lady Ship's interiors

On May 16 in New York, representatives of three of the ship's design firms will be giving a glimpse of their work for the Lady Ship.

Early on Virgin announced the 10 top-shelf international design firms engaged to create the public and private spaces aboard the 110,000gt vessel. So far, the company has not revealed which designer is handling which space. That's about to change as Virgin tantalizes with a peek at some of the concepts.

An urban, contemporary vibe

‘They have been dying to talk. We’ve kept them at bay,’ Virgin Voyages president and CEO Tom McAlpin told Seatrade Cruise Review, adding that the interiors will have an urban, contemporary vibe. The design thread is ‘the modern romance of sailing.’

McAlpin has described the design collective as including 'some of the world’s most stylish firms who are creators of design trends, not followers.' Together, he added, 'they are imagining a vessel unlike anything sailors have experienced before that will be a complete departure from the ordinary.'

'Restless innovator' Tom Dixon

Scheduled presenters at the New York event are Tom Dixon, 'a restless innovator who works mainly in lighting, accessories and furniture.' His eponymous global brand creates adventurous products and interiors. Recent work for the New York-based designer has included Le Drugstore on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and the innovative DELAKTIG bed for IKEA.

Roman and Williams' 'ingenious blending'

Presenting from Roman and Williams will be Robin Strandefer and Stephen Alesch, whose work on hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, retail spaces, homes and product design is distinguished by 'ingenious blending of historical elements with a modern reference.'

The New York-based firm's recent work includes the Viceroy Hotel; Fitzroy, a luxury building near the HIgh Line; Ace Hotels in New Orleans and Brooklyn, a retail pop-up for Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop, the Cantinery Restaurant in Istanbul and the Replay the Stage Restaurant and Octavius Bar in Milan.

Concrete 'shatters dogma'

Rob Wagemans and Lisa HassanZadeh will represent Concrete Amsterdam, a firm that 'loves provoking, confusing, philsophizing, scale models, haute cuisine, burders and (most of all) shattering dogma.'

Some projects include the Hotel W in London, Skypark Mongkok in Hong Kong, the Urby residential concept in the US and citizenM in London.

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