THAI AIRWAYS
We recently completed a new First Class cabin design for Thai Airways’ newly refurbished Boeing 747. Launched at a ceremony in London last month, the new design is the first implementation of a larger cabin vision we are carrying out across a range of the airline’s fleet.
The new Oasis First Class seat onboard the Boeing 747 was inspired by Thai spa retreats and offers the height of luxury, tranquillity and calm. Shades of gold and purple reflect the Thai Airways brand colours, while muted grey tones and accents of wood combine to offer an exclusive onboard environment. Wooden angled privacy louvres enable passengers to see out but prevent others looking in to each suite. Materials such as teak-look laminate and silk-like décor foils reference the rich patterns, materials and textures found around Thailand.
Following on from the B747, we are currently developing new Thai Contemporary interiors across all classes for Thai Airways’ fleet of B777 as well as the new generation aircraft on order, A350 and B787.
TAM AIRLINES
We recently completed a cabin re-design for Brazil’s national air carrier TAM Airlines. Luke Hawes, director at Priestmangoode and head of the TAM project explains: “Our work for TAM is crucial to their brand development, giving them the customer experience they need as they move up to become a major international carrier. The designs, which are being rolled out across the entire fleet, present TAM as an important international player and give them the tools they need to compete with the world’s other major international carriers.”
The First Class cabin, which was unveiled last week, offers the most comfortable cabin in the sky. Hawes continues: ‘Our concept was to design a ‘Home away from Home’, moving away from hard finishes and creating a softer, luxurious cabin more in keeping with high-end interior design. The cabin comprises four seats designed as beautiful pieces of free-standing furniture. The two central seats have a feature sofa that replaces standard footstools, offering a relaxed and comfortable social setting for passengers travelling together.
THAI SMILE
When Thai Airways International made the decision to start a new budget airline with its narrow body fleet of A320s, it enlisted the help of our multi-award winning design consultancy.
Our brief for the design of Thai Smile was built around five words: friendly, fun, vibrant, speedy and trendy. Following a series of research visits to Thailand, we used inspiration and influences from contemporary Thai culture, its people, landscapes and colours to inform the brand’s identity.
Working on all design aspects from the outset enabled us to develop a distinct brand identity for Thai Smile, one that remains unmistakably Thai across the entire passenger journey.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
Over the last ten years, we have worked on a number of projects for Malaysia Airlines, a five star airline renowned for its hospitality and impeccable service. Our most recent work for them has just been completed. On 2 July, the airline launched its first Airbus A380 service, joining the elite group of airlines to fly the world’s largest and most eco-efficient airliner.
We designed the cabin interiors across all three classes on the new aircraft. Our designs offer a seamless experience from home to destination, with references throughout to the airline’s brand identity and colours.
Passenger experience lies at the heart of our design, which provides the most comfortable journey yet. The cabin interiors act as a backdrop to the airline’s Malaysian Hospitality. The design throughout all three classes is simple, elegant, understated and tailored to meet the most discerning passengers’ needs. The First Class cabin for instance includes a 40” wide fully lie-flat bed – amongst the widest in the sky. We also designed all GUI systems on board the aircraft, for a truly integrated brand experience.
Malaysia Airlines’ A380 has a capacity of 494 seats, comprising of 350 economy and eight fully-flat first-class seats on the main (lower) deck, and 66 fully-flat business-class and 70 economy seats on the upper deck.
THE BRANDED EXPERIENCE
While wide-body aircraft present much scope for cabin customisation – particularly in Business and First Class -narrow body fleets offer unique opportunities for airlines to enhance their brand. Two of our most recent short haul projects are for Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. We developed the corporate colours and identity and applied them subtly in the Cabin at the entrance areas and throughout the trim and finish to offer passengers a branded experience and a more intuitive journey from home to destination.
TURKISH AIRLINES
Priestmangoode has created a complete re-brand of Turkish Airlines as a key part of the airline’s strategy to position itself as a major European carrier. Priestmangoode delivered a complete re-design, starting with new interiors across the entire Turkish fleet. The designs will be installed in all 105 new aircraft that Turkish Airlines has on order and will be retro-fitted across their existing Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The project also included consulting on logo and livery design and translating the new cabin designs to ground services to create a consistent design language from check-in to destination.
Click on the following link to see the new Turkish Airlines and Manchester Utd advert.
LUFTHANSA A380
Priestmangoode has designed the new flagship A380 for Lufthansa that has just been unveiled at a global media launch in Frankfurt. Priestmangoode designed the cabin interiors across all three classes with the First Class seat and cabin concept bringing the comfort and quality of the first class airport lounge on board. The new designs will be retro-fitted across the whole long-haul Lufthansa fleet, starting with the A330/340’s at the beginning of 2011.
Lufthansa’s A380 is the first super-jumbo commercial airliner in service in Europe and is a leap forward in aviation design setting new standards in travel comfort, quality, technology and environmental efficiency, introducing the most luxurious and highest quality first class cabin yet.
Employing the palette of leather, suede, wood and marble-like laminate in caramel, champagne, chablis, and grey-brown used in Lufthansa’s First Class airport lounge, Priestmangoode’s new first class cabin makes the cabin feel warmer and more domestic, as well as allowing a seamless transition between airport lounge and aircraft.
FIRST CLASS CABIN
Priestmangoode has designed the new First Class suite for SWISS as part of its new First Class cabin. Nigel Goode comments, “As a starting point, we looked the recognisably Swiss traits of traditionally understated design delivered with a lightness of touch, precise craftsmanship and attention to detail. We focused on delivering a holistic brand experience on-board by mapping out the passenger journey from check-in to aircraft. The new SWISS First Class seat has been delivered with simplicity and quality at the heart of Priestmangoode’s design.”
NEW FLEET OF A330-200S
Priestmangoode’s work for Kingfisher Airlines is a great example of extending a brand through all 3-dimensional detail. Kingfisher were keen to create a Kingfisher lifestyle experience on-board as an extension of the mother brand, Kingfihser beer and charged Priestmangoode with the task of designing the interiors of the brand new fleet of A330-200s to launch their international services to the US and the UK. Every detail has been considered in terms of reflecting the brand from the spacious and comfortable lie-flat beds in Kingfisher First to the social area with a bar and break-out seating and starry skies.
JET AIRWAYS
Jet Airways has made its first foray into a first class service with the introduction of 8 exclusive private suites offering the ultimate in luxury travel designed by Priestmangoode. The 26sq.ft suites have been designed to be a ‘home away from home’, featuring dual sliding doors to create a sense of absolute privacy. Each seat extends to a fully flat bed and incorporates various massage features. The environment provides an oasis of calm, surrounded by luxurious materials such as raw silk for the wall coverings and an Indian rosewood veneer on the table and cabinet.
EMBRAER
The Embraer Lineage 1000 offers plenty of cabin flexibility at a very competitive price. Keeping completion costs under control is key to the commercial success of the Lineage and this lead Embraer to approach Priestmangoode to develop a modular interior scheme that divides the main cabin into five zones maximising flexibility and utility. We took the project from early concept layout through to fully detailed design, redefining modern luxury to establish Embraer as the leading manufacturer in this field. This uniquely flexible design suits the most discerning and individual customer tastes with facilities and finishes more commonly found in luxury hotels.
AIRBUS A350
Working with the Airbus design teams in Hamburg and Toulouse, Priestmangoode designed the full-scale concept mock-up for Airbus’ latest aircraft, the A350. The purpose of a concept model is to show the airlines the full potential of the space to help them in their decision-making process. We were able to use the latest technologies and finishes such as new high-qulaity materials for sidewalls and ceilings, based on nano-technology, larger windows for more natural light and an advanced mood light system. For passengers, the A350 cabin will be the most advanced and comfortable cabin in its class and these new developments will enable airlines to enhance the possibilities in offering a far more pleasurable journey.
QATAR AIRWAYS
Building on Qatari hospitality, Priestmangoode has developed the design of the on-board lounge to be an extension of the airline’s airport lounge, offering as much comfort as possible. The overall aim of the design was to create the feeling of a highly integrated VIP corporate jet. The lounge offers seating for six passengers and standing room at the bar. To create a different mood within the lounge, the seating is asymmetric in its design so up to four passengers can sit and socialise on one side while on the other side there are two generous individual seats.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
The complete refurbishment of Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing747 fleet marked a major investment in design for the airline. Priestmangoode was provided with the opportunity to design a totally integrated environment – the design is clean, crisp and understated, each side panel defining a passenger’s individual environment and is seamlessly integrated from the wall through to the credenza and to the seat. Malaysia Airlines is renowned for its impeccable service which is relaxed yet assured. Priestmangoode have created an environment evoking this quiet confidence with Malay decorative detailing applied to the soft furnishings.
LUFTHANSA
Lufthansa briefed Priestmangoode to revolutionise the interior of the German flag carrier’s new Intercontinental fleet, including all seating, cabins, galleys and interfaces. This called for an evolution of the Lufthansa brand experience with the passenger as the focus of the attention, and the production of one coherent design philosophy that brought together all the separate interior elements. The opportunities for a branded cabin interior extended beyond the passenger’s immediate seat environment, focusing on the passenger journey experience, improving entrance areas and enhancing galley appearance and functionality.
AIRBUS A3XX
Airbus appointed Priestmangoode in 2000 to define the future potential of the double deck aircraft for the sales mock-up of the A3XX (A380), Known as the ‘WOW’ mock-up, the multi-functional interior provided space, drama and variety, in conjunction with supreme comfort. The entire interior is designed to take the passenger through a typical day, allowing for relaxation, entertainment, businessm sleep and most importantly, the ability to move around. We designed, built and installed all aspects of the mock-up down to the last details in just four and a half months. Although a concept model, the scheme was based on practical and achievable thinking.
UPPER CLASS SEAT
We developed the new Virgin Atlantic Upper Class airline seat in conjunction with Reynard Aviation. This was the first lie-flat bed to be installed in an existing Business Class pitch. Passengers had expressed discomfort using the space in front of them as they felt it belonged to the passenger in front. The Upper Class seat reclaims this space, visually separating the seat, and the screen and table unit, giving each passenger a clear sense of their own personal space. We worked with a team of ergonomists and engineers to produce a chair that is so flexible that it redefined air transport standards and brought a piece of furniture into the cabin rather than a piece of aircraft seat engineering.