Superyacht interiors – State of the market

BOOTH NO. AL40

MYS 2021

IN AN INTERVIEW WITH LIST GC’s MANAGING DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN BOLINGER, HE SHARED HIS VIEWS ON SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CURRENT TOPICS OF THE SUPERYACHT INTERIOR INDUSTRY.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF LIST GC.

Since the end of 2020, Mr Bolinger has been responsible for Sales, Manufacturing, and Project Calculation in the management team of the family-owned Austrian interior outftting company. We wanted to know what trends and developments he can identify for the coming year, and what this means for List GC.

COVID-19 has resulted in many fundamental changes for thousands of companies. Is this also true for List GC?

Yes, COVID has been a serious topic for us for more than a year now. During this time, we have faced ample challenges at List GC and we have re-established some of our processes from the ground up. Especially during those weeks of the pandemic when border closures, lockdown, and general uncertainty were the norm, we very quickly adapted to the new conditions. We replaced old routines with new work procedures and optimised our processes. To give an example, we held our project and sales team meetings as virtual meetings and cancelled all the business trips. This is quite unusual in our industry, where meetings in person used to be on the agenda on a daily basis. We also relied on local suppliers whenever possible, in order to avoid logistical obstacles like border closures, and thus saved time and money. We were able to supply the expected quality reliably and on time, in spite of all that was going on.

Other than that, we see that many owners want their place of retreat to be safe, both for themselves and their crew. Ways of minimising infection potential have been part of many design agendas since the outbreak. For example, on our side, we focused on door and handle solutions and general surface applications, while our AC partners investigated ventilation. >>

What is the current situation in the superyacht industry in general?

The pandemic is not yet over, but we’re nevertheless feeling quite confdent. It became very clear this past year that, as projects planned for the long term, luxury yachts are largely independent of the economy. We have seen an increase in demand for new superyachts and large numbers of orders being placed with international shipyards. This is clearly a positive situation for us as interior outftters and suppliers. We have been cooperating with many of our customers for years and this, combined with the fact that we’ve been able to demonstrate that we’re a trustworthy and reliable partner, means that we’ve come through recent months well and can currently rely on a stable economic basis, despite the challenging times.

So, in other words, things remain largely the same?

On the contrary! Our industry is active and innovative solutions are always in demand, such as in the area of exterior furniture. There is currently a clear trend towards new, larger living spaces on board. The design is moving away from clearly demarcated areas towards smooth transitions. The connection between inside and outside is becoming increasingly important. As a result, we’re seeing interior designers consciously including parts of the exterior. This also changes the requirements for on-deck furnishings. The planning and selection of materials must also take external infuences into account. This is where we’re able to contribute our know-how and craftsmanship. Our strengths include seamless compatibility and optimal use of high-quality materials in the outside area, where they are exposed to seawater and weather. That’s why we’re perfectly positioned for this growing line of business.

Which other developments can you identify?

We think that sustainability is another important trend in the industry. For yachts, this currently plays a role in relation to the engine types, air conditioning, and waste management. This makes it even more important for us to think further and in a more sustainable way, to be pro-active, and make our contribution in our work processes, approaches, and production, just like we did when we started using photovoltaics on our company buildings in Bad Erlach, Lower Austria. We used offcuts in our apprentice workshop rather than disposing of them, we built know-how for our work on sustainable surfaces and made our processes – from engineering through to project management – more effcient from the offset to reduce logistical efforts and improve our ecological footprint.

It is also great to see that owners are striving to reduce the ecological footprint of new-builds and major refts. However, I am missing this development on the interior side of the industry, where interior outftters are still guided by boundaries that hinder a comprehensive application of sustainable solutions and processes. I am waiting for the challenge of building an interior that is truly driven and defned by sustainable guidelines. This would require a different mindset and perception of quality, as you would need to accept certain imperfections from nature, resulting in a lower waste of base products such as leather, stone, or veneers, for example.