It’s a leisure facility; it could also be a hotel, a theme park, a spa, a holiday resort or a cruise ship. Whichever way, it’s a leisure facility first. Leisure is all about people doing what they wish to do with their free time. It may be on a holiday; it could be the time when they are not at work. So to be successful it must cater for customers seeking a leisure experience. This is the ethos on which all the successful leisure facilities have been designed over recent years.

The results of getting this right are more than just very happy guests. They include increased revenue from retail and leisure activity, lower costs of maintenance, happier staff, increased longevity between refurbishment and if it’s got right the ‘Wow’ factor, this could gain vital traction on social websites. A picture posted on Facebook of your facility is worth thousands in advertising spending. People do post pictures of their leisure especially if they consider something to be ‘fantastic’. In other words, get all of the design and installation right and it’s a goldmine.

Getting it right is not easy and is not a matter of luck; it’s a matter of good research, design and completion. An example of this is the public areas of a resort called Norwegian Epic. It’s a leisure facility that happens to be on a ship, though the principals apply anywhere. It is a good example of how to do it right. Space is at a premium, there is plenty of competition and customer’s expectations are sky high.

I spoke to SMC Design Director Andy Yuill, who with his team of talented and experienced designers were responsible for much of the design. I wanted to know how he went about realising the customer’s expectations.

Steve Mitchell How and why did you get the contract?
Andy Yuill We have been involved in design within the leisure business for over 20 years and have gained considerable experience in all areas required in design and development of such a project. Our work is primarily marine based; however we have been involved in the development of a large hotel in Chinese as long ago as 1995 and we have just finished a contempory Spa in the K West Hotel, London (see image right).  To me it doesn’t matter where or what the project is. It’s a leisure product and they have to be designed and finished along the same principles of having to meet the demands of the client, who in turn, needs to meet the demands of their customers.  The customers see it as a leisure facility, so the casino, restaurants, bars, lounges and other public spaces must all be designed as part of the overall leisure facility. The three essential disciplines we bring to this are interior design, artwork consultancy and graphic design; it is our ability to combine and control these required elements on such large scale projects that has resulted in our continued success within the leisure industry; wether it is in new build such as Norwegian Epic or in the various refurbishment projects we are involved in.

Steve Mitchell Does this include budgetary control as well?
Andy Yuill To a certain extent, however the main contractor controls the total budget and we have to work with them within the areas we are responsible for.

Steve Mitchell The ethos for the Norwegian Epic project was ‘Freestyle cruising.’ Did you work from this concept to finished project from scratch?
Andy Yuill Norwegian Cruise lines ‘unique selling point’ is that their ships enable the guests to do just what they please whist on board. This is what is called ‘Freestyle Cruising’ its not cruising as people used to expect, with set mealtimes, dining rooms and dress codes. It is based on the resort idea of doing and going what and where you wish to. We have been involved in the design of the previous 7 projects and have designed and developed the variety of design concepts to the high standard that exists today. However we have included several new concepts that shall take the overall product to a new level of leisure entertainment.

Steve Mitchell What have you developed that is so new?
Andy Yuill One of the most striking design developments is the large open spaces (see image right) created to give the guests a far geater connection to the overall interior design and the ability to flow freely through the facilities. The innovative facilities include an ice bar, where colour-changing lighting illuminates the ice creating a continually changing enviroment (see image below right). A larger and more practicle spa, where function became the driving design element allowing the overall design to become more simplistic in its approach. We have also increased the retail capacity throughout. All of these developments shall help to generate additional revenue.

Steve Mitchell What did you do in the public areas to enhance the Freestyle ethos?
Andy Yuill We opened the areas out as much as we could. One of the concepts we developed for Epic was the visual connection between areas within the ship. Because of the large central void and the longitudinal voids that run off it we were able to create long lines of sight that lead the eye to the different facilities on 3 different levels. For instance from deck 6 you can see the Japanese restaurant, the Ice Bar, the Martini bar, the Casino, the Main Dining Area, the forward and aft Retail Areas are visible as are the Whisky Bar and Jazz Club. This visual connexion between areas and from one area to another is the important element to Freestyle cruising. We attempt to remove the obvious boundries, which exist on previous vessels.

Steve Mitchell Why? What brought you to this conclusion from the brief?
Andy Yuill The concept recognises that as a guest you are very visually aware of what is going on around you. You aren’t just aware of the bar you are standing in but its position in the overall design and relationship to other areas. It makes for a more interesting and engaging guest experience. Because the area is opened up customers become more aware of what is available. It becomes more visually stimulating; they can see where you want to go, what they want to do. Guests will then flow from one area to another. The easier this transition is then the happier they will beoverall. Cruise ships used to be a series of individual boxes connected to each other we have attempeted to open this up. Norwegian Epic is a resort on the water. That’s the concept we developed, designed and realised from the customers brief.

Steve Mitchell Detail must be important, what was the thinking behind the broad concepts?
Andy Yuill Perhaps the best way to consider this is to look at particular areas where the design has developed for this leisure facility.

The Wasabi Japanese Restaurant - the design has become more contemporary with more attention being given to the artwork and the signage to create the desired appearance. The overall design detail has become simpler but this clearly does not detract from the overall product. By considering the popularity of the feature dining elements of tepanyaki, sushi and yakatori with 112 seats in the tepanyaki areas and 25 for sushi far higher than ever before. The Japanese Restaurant clearly shows that what you have to offer guests are options when it comes to dining experiences weather it be Italian, Chinese, French. Japanese or Steak, but to then offer variety within the options gives the guests a truly unique dining experience.

Shakers Martini Bar has now become simplified in design but great consideration has been given to the material finishes used. A sophisticated atmosphere is created by the mother of pearl bar top, pressed metal panels to bar front and textured glass panels to the back bar. The illuminated bottles, up to 200 per bar become the feature of the back bar. The design complexity has been simplified but more consideration has been given to the material finishes which are standard off the shelf products but when used in a considered way create as powerful a statement as more complicated previous designs.