John Jervis from Icon magazine takes a look behind the doors of the PriestmanGoode studio with an in-depth interview with Paul Priestman, as public transport champion and recent recipient of London Design Festival Innovation Medal.
With rail operators facing the challenge of re-starting commuter services, whilst operating with reduced passenger capacity – as low as 10% in some instances – to observe social distancing, PriestmanGoode has identified a new way to put the blocked-off seating to good use. We’ve taken a new look at our ‘Island Bay’ seat, which was originally part of the Tomorrow’s Train Design Today challenge funded by RSSB and was designed to increase capacity by 15-20% per carriage in a standard commuter train. In order to address the new challenges we are facing, we have adapted the seats so that they could be used to store bicycles instead. This makes better use of blocked-off seating on commuter trains, and also addresses the concerns commuters may have about their onward journeys either on underground or bus services which also have capacity constraints and where social distancing is harder to enforce. The role of design is to solve problems and improve the overall experience of customers. In challenging times such as these, design must also adapt quickly to respond to those evolving needs.
As we continue to monitor the global developments surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, PriestmanGoode has taken a number of steps to ensure the health and wellbeing of our team, and to ensure we can continue to support our clients and our community.
Following UK government advice, our team are now all working from home. Rest assured that we remain fully operational and that we will continue to collaborate with clients and suppliers around the world to create great work. As an employee-owned company, one of the cornerstones of our business is that we are all in this together. This is true now more than ever, and we are all invested in supporting one another through this uncertain time.
We’re also going to continue to do what we do best: think creatively and share interesting ideas and concepts through our social media channels and via webinar. Contact us if there are any particular areas you’d like us to explore.
Keep well and safe.
Team PG
We’re delighted to unveil our latest project, a new brand identity, livery and cabin interiors for Greek national airline AEGEAN, launched in Athens today.
We’ve worked in close partnership with AEGEAN over the last few months to develop a vision for the new brand going forward. The work spans everything from logo design, livery, graphic items and digital products to cabin interiors including soft items, amenity kits and meal services.
You can watch a video introducing the new brand and cabin interiors here.
PriestmanGoode has designed the brand and interiors for Olive, a next generation co-living community by Embassy Group in India.
PriestmanGoode has worked on every aspect of the project from naming to defining the brand identity, designing the logo and brand guidelines and all interior spaces including bedrooms and communal spaces.
The first Olive co-living communities will open in Bangalore and Chennai in 2020. The first phase of the project will see the launch of 20,000 beds in total.
The exhibition explores the issue of waste in travel. Each year, an estimated 5.7 million tonnes of cabin waste is generated on passenger flights, from single-use plastic to meal trays and earphones. Here, we look at how developments in eco materials, initiatives from suppliers and changes in consumer behaviour could transform our experience across all transport modes and lead us to a more sustainable industry.
The exhibition runs from 12 September 2019 to 9 February 2020.
Read more »
We’ve worked with the UK’s largest hospitality group, Whitbread PLC, on a new hotel concept. ZIP by Premier Inn has been unveiled as a new ‘basics done brilliantly’ concept designed for travellers who are on a particularly tight budget. We’ve used our expertise from designing aircraft and train interiors to maximise the use of space and create flexible environments in the 8.5 sqm rooms. The first ZIP by Premier Inn hotel will open in early 2019.
A full scale prototype of the Hyperloop passenger capsule was unveiled today at a ceremony in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain.
PriestmanGoode has worked in collaboration with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to design the capsule, named “Quintero One”. The prototype will now head to HyperloopTT’s R&D facility in Toulouse, France, for optimisation.
Watch a video about the design and build of this innovative mode of transport here »
For further details about the project, read HyperloopTT’s press release here »
PriestmanGoode has teamed up with the RCA Textiles MA course to run an external brief project. The most successful student is invited to join the CMF team at PG for work experience and to work with a visualiser and designer to realise the CMF solution in a real environment. An exhibition of the students’ presentations in the PG London showroom, Great Portland Street, opened last night and runs until 29th June 2018.
WestJet unveiled its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ‘Spirit of Canada’ to the world and the inspiration behind the three-class cabin interior created by PriestmanGoode. The design of the in-cabin includes the airlines’ first-ever Business Class seating, as well as Premium Economy and Economy seating.
PriestmanGoode’s design of the QSuite Business Class product for the world’s leading airline Qatar Airways won the 2018 Crystal Cabin Award.
Paul Priestman launched the company’s vision of how cities in the future could be transformed by drones at the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong (22 March 2018) where he spoke about the ‘Future of Travel’.
We wish our friends in China and around the world a happy and prosperous New Year.
Paul Priestman accompanies the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, on an official trade visit to China.
Paul has been appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art in London. The College describes this honour as ‘an opportunity for [us] to acknowledge exceptional accomplishment and is given to persons who have made an outstanding contribution to … professional practice in one or more disciplines or professions of interest to the College, to the advancement of society in the UK or overseas or to the life and objectives of the University.’
Photo by Stephen Pover
We’re pleased to present PG x RCA — Future Materials, currently on show at our Central London headquarters. This exhibition charts the work of 14 students from the Royal College of Art who were set a brief by PriestmanGoode to develop innovative material palettes for aircraft interiors in 2050.
The brief, set by our studio’s Colour, Materials and Finishes team, asked students to consider how bespoke textile and surface design could shape a responsible cabin of the future, and to deliver materials that offer additional benefits to well-being, health and hygiene, privacy as well as cleaning and maintenance.
The results cover a vast spectrum of observations, ideas and methods, and bring a new and fresh perspective to the possibilities in future air travel environments.
We were honoured to be invited once again to do a Masterclass for The National Science and Engineering Saturday Club, which enables students in secondary schools to develop their creative skills. Our Masterclass this year was with Kingston University’s Club. Our brief to them was to create a design and brand identity for a spacecraft based on their destination planet. Taking the properties of each planet into consideration, the students developed a palette of colours, materials and finishes for application in spacecraft interiors. Each group then presented their concept to the rest of the students.
We have a long-standing history of holding Masterclasses with The Saturday Club and are pleased to be supporting them by building bridges between education and industry.
Image courtesy of The Saturday Club/ Magnus Andersson.
It’s been nearly ten years since we first started collaborating with Qatar Airways. In that time, the airline has been a pivotal driving force in elevating passenger experience in air travel. We’re delighted to see our latest programme with them revealed to the public for the first time today.
Qatar Airways’ new Business Class concept, featuring the Qsuite is set to redefine business class travel. The Qsuite is the first Business class suite in the world to have a double bed. In addition, centre quads allow groups of four to sit together, providing the first truly social at seat experience in a Business Class cabin. Each suite can also become a private individual space thanks to fully closing doors and privacy panels on every side.
Click here for an overview of the cabin.
We wish our friends in China and around the world a happy and prosperous New Year.
Paul Priestman has once again been voted one of the 500 most influential people in Britain today. The list, compiled by Debrett’s and published by the Daily Telegraph, features people from across industries, including artist Grayson Perry, broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. As the Telegraph reports, the one thing all candidates have in common is their ‘tremendous, epoch-changing influence’.
Paul’s appointment as part of this illustrious list is testament to the role of industrial design in shaping every day life, and to PriestmanGoode’s continued work to improve travel for millions of passengers every day.
Further details are available on the Daily Telegraph website.
The New Tube for London, which PriestmanGoode designed in partnership with Transport for London, features as one of the key exhibits in the permanent collection of the new Design Museum, which opens to the public today.
A full scale prototype of the iconic front of the train was built as part of the ‘Designer, Maker, User’ exhibition. Featured alongside a short film with Paul Priestman and Paul Marchant, from Transport for London, the exhibit highlights the importance of design in developing a beautiful, functional and efficient transport system that will meet the growing demands of London’s rising population.
This week marks the second annual China Britain International Design Week.
The event aims to foster creative partnerships between the UK and China, with a particular focus on the collaboration of creative British talent with China’s outstanding manufacturing capabilities.
We are honoured to be exhibited alongside companies like Siemens, Farrells and Wilkinson Eyre at the event this year, and delighted to be the recipients of the inaugural Design & Innovation Award.
Our new aircraft interiors for United Airlines were launched today at an impressive ceremony at New York City’s Gotham Hall.
The focus of our designs for the new international fleet is the United Polaris premium lounge and cabin, an exclusive offer tailored to United business class passengers. Following over 12,000 hours of research and passenger consultations led by United, the new United Polaris cabin is designed to meet the needs of busy, hard-working business travellers, and provides them with a highly functional, intuitive suite, and a serene lounge and cabin experience that will leave them feeling rested and refreshed.
On 1 April 2016, PriestmanGoode became an employee owned company. The studio is now majority owned by an Employee Ownership Trust.
Paul Priestman explains: “Whilst the other directors and myself are remaining at the helm of the studio, we wanted to put things in place to ensure the legacy of the company we have built. This is a commitment to our team, a great number of whom have been with us for many years and have been instrumental to our success. We wanted to empower them, share in the success that we’ve built and make everyone at PriestmanGoode feel invested in our continued growth.
Nigel Goode adds “As designers, our work is about innovation, about being progressive, about future proofing, helping our clients devise long-term strategies for success. Transitioning into an employee-owned company is us applying those same principles to our own company. It’s a collaborative and long-term approach to business decisions and will ensure that we keep growing in a sustained manner”
On April 8, 2016, Paul Priestman was interviewed live on BBC World News about the evolution of aircraft interior design over the last two decades. He spoke about commercial imperatives and what we as designers can do to reclaim as much passenger space as possible and create a more comfortable journey.
You can watch the interview here
We are pleased to announce that one of our latest product designs, the Chimes doorbells range for Honeywell, has just been awarded a Red Dot Product Design Award. Established in the 1950’s, the Red Dot is the largest industrial design competition in the world, last year receiving over 17,000 entries.
We are delighted with this prestigious accolade, which is testament to the hard work of our team and a great partnership with Honeywell.
Last week, we attended the roll out ceremony of the new E2 commercial jet by Embraer, for which we have designed the aircraft interiors.
The roll out is an important milestone in the development of the new aircraft, which is due to start flying in 2018. We will be working closely with Embraer’s engineering team over the next two years to implement our aircraft interior design, which has already been lauded as a game-changer in the manufacture of narrow body aircraft.
We have long been supporters of institutions that work with young students to nurture their creative skills and bridge links between education and design practice. One such institution is the Sorrell Foundation, which runs the National Art & Design Saturday Club, offering young students the opportunity to attend free art and design classes, and to attend masterclasses with leading creative practitioners.
We were delighted to once again host a masterclass at our studio in Central London studio, where we ran a workshop on the future of space travel.
You can read more about the day on LinkedIn
Image courtesy of The Sorrell Foundation / Kit Oates
The UK’s Sunday Times newspaper and Debrett’s published a list of the 500 Most Influential individuals in Britain, featuring Paul Priestman in the architecture & design category.
The newspaper writes: “Influence takes many forms… What all the people on this list have in common is that through a combination of talent, originality, hard work, persistence, courage… they have earned the right to make a difference.”
This accolade extends to the whole team of great designers past and present, who have produced fantastic work at PriestmanGoode over the last 25 years.
We wish our friends in China and all around the world a happy and prosperous New Year.
The annual Aircraft Interiors International showcase was recently published, featuring our thoughts on the latest trends in aircraft interior design.
This year, we have gone beyond designing holistic journeys from home to destination and honed in on the importance of branding and the ways in which airlines can learn from the automotive and consumer products industries to develop their brands.
Read more about how we help our clients become superbrands here »
Paul Priestman has just been appointed to the board of trustees of the Design Council. His role will be to help guide and develop the Design Council’s work supporting business and entrepreneurs, transforming public services, enhancing places and cities and campaigning to raise awareness of the value of design.
“Design is intrinsic to improving our everyday lives and to developing a more sustainable economy. I’m delighted with this appointment and look forward to working with the Design Council to fly the flag for British design both in the UK and around the world.”
We are really pleased to be working with the RSA again this year and to support the Student Design Awards. We think it’s important to nurture the next generation of designers, and the RSA’s work to forge connections between design education and practice is immensely valuable.
The brief we’re supporting this year is titled ‘Project Rural’ and calls upon students to design a product to help people and communities in rural areas to flourish.
To coincide with the London Design Festival, The Origins of Tomorrow is an exhibition in our Central London showroom that charts our work and design philosophy since the studio’s inception. A photographic timeline showcases the breadth of our work — from toys and radiators to the New Tube for London, train design, aircraft interiors and spacecraft — while a selection of products represents some of the key milestones in our development as a company. A number of scale models of our aircraft interiors work also features in a full size section of an aircraft fuselage.
The exhibition is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, until 2 October.
We’re delighted to reveal that Paul has once again been voted one of London’s 1000 most influential people by the Evening Standard. Published annually, this year’s list has been re-named ‘The Progress 1000′ and celebrates the influencers in every field who make the capital the world-class wonder it is — and who carry the responsibility of ensuring London remains great for generations to come’
You can read more and view the full list on the Evening Standard online.
Our new aircraft interiors for United Airlines’ domestic fleet were launched last week at the airline’s headquarters in Chicago, with a focus on the new First Class seat.
Developed with input from customers whom the airline invited to test seat prototypes, the custom seat features several elements to improve the passenger experience such as all leather seat covers, tray table with integrated tablet holder, articulated seat pad for greater comfort and additional in-seat storage.
The new aircraft interiors debut this week on one of United Airlines’ A319, with retrofits on A319s, A320s and many Boeing 737s and 757s through 2016.
We’re very happy to be sponsoring the RSA Student Design Awards once again this year and would like to congratulate all students who have just received this prestigious award.
The Student Design Awards task emerging designers with real briefs to create solutions for the social, environment and economic issues that are at the top of the news and social agenda.
We have a long history with the RSA Awards, with a number of our designers having previously won, and are pleased to support this initiative and help create stronger bonds between design education and industry.
We’re delighted to host “Chaos Contained, Paintings by Boo Mitford”, the first solo exhibition by the London-based contemporary artist. The exhibition showcases the artist’s investigation into the tumultuous nature of paint and the personality of colour over the period 2005 – 2015.
Mitford explains: ‘Paint has every inclination to be unpredictable — it’s a bit of a wild child. Through fine adjustments of volume, situation and strength, I can create a vivid painting of oscillating colour. It is the nature of paint to want to escape. Sometimes colours combine harmoniously, sometimes they fight like hell. The capricious nature of paint is what fascinates me, and what I strive to explore through my work.’
Chaos Contained runs from 15 May to 12 June, Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, excluding Bank Holidays.
We are proud to announce that we have won a prestigious Crystal Cabin Award with Embraer for our design of the E2 jets.
Described as the Oscars of the aviation industry, the award, which we won in the Industrial Design and Visionary Concepts category, is testament to the great partnership that we have built with the Brazilian manufacturer over many years.
We worked closely with Embraer’s engineering team to overhaul the aircraft interiors of the new generation short haul fleet.
A big congratulations to the whole team!
Airliner World has just published a special issue on the Airbus A380 to mark 10 years since the jumbo jet first rolled out. Having designed aircraft interiors for a fair few of them, including for Qatar Airways, Lufthansa and Malaysia Airlines, we were delighted to be interviewed for the special issue by editor Paul Eden.
You can read the interview in full here, which is reproduced with kind permission of Key Publishing/Airliner World.
We’re delighted to announce we have been selected as finalists in the Future Railway’s competition ‘Tomorrow’s Train Design Today’, which is run with the Department for Transport and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Paul comments: ‘This is a much needed competition. It’s imperative that we find a long term solution to tackle the big issue of rail overcrowding, to alleviate pressure on the system, improve passenger experience, quality of life and value for money.’
We wish our friends in China and all around the world a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Our latest aircraft interiors for Korean Air have just been released. Our designs for the new Prestige suite will debut on the airline’s A330-300.
The designs are part of a long term programme we are working on with the airline. The new suite optimises space and comfort, with privacy available at the touch of a button.
The new seats and layout allow each passenger to have direct aisle access. Seat pitch has been increased to 87 inches (up 12 inches from the previous suite), and the armrests can fold flat, increasing seat width to 22.5 inches. The suite also features an ottoman, traditionally a First Class cabin feature.
Paul was in Singapore last week with Embraer to launch the widely acclaimed E2 jet to the South East Asian market. We have been working closely with the Brazilian manufacturer’s in-house engineering team to design the new aircraft interiors.
The full scale mock up of our design, which was shown at the Farnborough Air Show last July, briefly dropped into Singapore to showcase the new interiors to one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
Paul has built his take on a room for a dolls’ house as part of the V&A Museum of Childhood’s exhibition “Small Stories: At Home in a Dolls’ House”. The exhibition explores the stories behind some of the UK’s best loved dolls’ houses and features 20 unique rooms by contemporary British design luminaries.
A version of his room — ‘The Longest Table in the World’ — is currently exhibited in our showroom window on Great Portland Street in London’s West End. So do drop by to have a look and go to the exhibition in Bethnal Green for the full dolls’ house experience. (Photo: V&A Museum)
Over the last twenty years, we have established our studio as the global leader in aircraft interiors. We have designed countless cabins for many of the world’s leading airlines including Air France, Swiss International Airlines, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa to name just a few.
In a recent article in the Financial Times on the rise of First Class travel, Nigel Goode shares his thoughts on the evolution of luxury aircraft interiors.
We are delighted to have been awarded Best Design Studio in the London Design Awards following our busiest year across the product, aviation and transport industries. We are also thrilled to have won the London Design Award for Best Product Design – Commercial & Industry with the New Tube for London, which we designed in partnership with Transport for London.
Recently, our design for the next generation deep level trains for London’s underground was also awarded the Rail Executive Club’s inaugural Most Interesting Award for Best Original Design.
We have launched a new innovation in the passenger shipping industry with our Virtual Balcony for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
The Virtual Balcony, which features on the company’s latest ship, Quantum of the Seas, solves the age old problem that inside staterooms have no windows or balconies, when every passenger wants a cabin with a view. The Virtual Balcony solves this by giving you real time views from the ship, with the advantage that you can choose whichever direction you look out to. The industry response has been very positive, with the leading media commentator, Cruise Critic, stating ‘the virtual balcony is more than just a novelty; it truly enhances the interior cabin experience’.
Paul Priestman has been voted one of the 1000 Most Influential People of 2014 by London’s leading newspaper, the Evening Standard.
The Power 1000 list celebrates London’s brightest talents from every walk of life, from art and design to sports, business and politics. The list was unveiled last week at the Francis Crick Institute among many of this year’s 1000, including The Chancellor George Osborne, The Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Stephen Hawking.
Sarah Sands, editor of the Evening Standard, commented: ‘Our city has always been a unique melting pot for science, technology, the arts, finance and politics – and we celebrate the brilliant people who make London the wonder it is.’
We are delighted to have won a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in recognition of our global growth over the last three years.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank both our clients and our designers. It is thanks to their loyalty and to our brilliant teams, both in London and in our China office that we have been able to grow in such a strong and sustainable manner.
Over the last few years, we’ve worked closely with Qatar Airways to design the premium aircraft interiors for their new A380.
The Qatar experience across the First Class Cabin and Premium Lounge is one of refined luxury. Rich, warm textures and finishes are infused with subtle lighting. Traditional Arabic patterns are modernised to create elegant features with intricate detail, imbuing the environment with bespoke luxury.
The understated opulence is set by the unique ceiling features, which provide a warmth and level of grandeur unexpected on an aircraft. Intricate patterns, details and lighting infuse every part of the design.
The aircraft is flying on the London to Doha route since October this year.
To coincide with the London Design Festival this week, we have curated ‘Bright Ideas to Make Life Better’ in our new Great Portland Street building in Central London.
The exhibition aims to show the breadth of application of design and the ways in which contemporary designers are finding solutions to help us towards a more sustainable future.
For further information go to our designated site brightideastomakelifebetter.com, where we’ll be posting details and pictures from the exhibition.
The GREAT campaign is an initiative from UK Trade & Investment to showcase the very best of what Britain has to offer. Used throughout the world in advertising and through events, trade fairs and conferences, the campaign highlights British expertise across a wide range of sectors, from the creative industries, to science, sports or business.
We can now announce that the British government has selected our designs for World View Experience to represent the Innovation arm of the campaign. Our visuals for the space capsule will be used to promote the UK around the world and highlight our skills in ground-breaking transport design.
We’re working with DHL on the inaugural Blue Sky Transport Design Awards, as part of the first ever FIA Formula E Championship. The award aims to address the challenges of growing cities and environmental sustainability. Participants are invited to design an electric transport device or vehicle for private, public or commercial use.
The winning design will be presented at the final race of the FIA Formula E championship in London on June 28 2015, and will receive a grant of £10,000. Paul is chairing the judging panel, which includes key figures from Formula E, Wired Magazine, Andretti FE racing team and DHL.
For more information and details of how to enter go to www.blueskyaward.com
In February 2013, Paul was invited to deliver the 3rd Annual Puma.Safe Sustainability Lecture at London’s prestigious Design Museum.
Focusing on sustainability in transport design, Paul talked about innovation in transport and aviation, his early interest in the subject and the importance of long-term investment in public transport infrastructure.
Paul was recently interviewed for London’s leading newspaper, The Evening Standard, on working globally, the rise of design in corporate culture and the importance of altruism in order to innovate and affect how we might live in the future.
House & Garden Magazine has published an in-depth profile of Paul Priestman as part of its annual Green by Design special, focusing on leading figures in sustainability.
The profile explores Paul’s design philosophy and his approach to green design, both at home and at work.