Page 98 - The Book For Men Spring/Summer 2023

Smooth Sailing
The latest collaboration between Norm Architects and YYachts
is the height of luxury
By Nour Abi-Nakhoul
THE BOAT CUTS THROUGH THE WATER SMOOTHLY, SLEEK AND slate grey, with its dark black sail towering overhead, mountainous and monumental, with its name, Y9, proudly emblazoned near the very top. She’s the stunning result of the newest collaboration between Copenha- gen-based architecture and design studio Norm Architects and Michael Schmidt at YYachts, an award-winning company that makes fast-sailing, minimalistic yachts created from carbon.
Norm Architects creates residential and commercial spaces across the world, from a high-class dental clinic in Belgium to a tea lounge in China and a beachfront property in Sri Lanka. All of it is tied together by their signature approach of “soft minimalism,” an unapologetically Scandinavian design ethos that prioritizes spaciousness and simplicity
while maintaining warmth and tactility. The studio finds their natural pairing in this partnership with Schmidt, who “shares the same design ambitions of unique, understated luxury with a residential feel,” says Peter Eland, architect and partner at Norm. The slick, muted classiness of the Y9 is undeniable proof of the groups’ compatibility.
This is the second time Norm and YYachts have paired, the first being a 2019 collaboration on the Y7 yacht — a similarly sleek vessel with its interior also grounded in a modest, warm luxuriousness. With the Y9, Norm further refines the design characteristics and principles found in the Y7, bringing them to new heights. The studio faced two central challenges in translating soft minimalism into the hull of a yacht: remaining minimalistic despite such a limited space, and ensuring safety within a moving, water-bound vessel. “Trying to fit everything
was the most challenging part of the project. We had to rethink a lot of details due to the curved hull shape,” says Eland. The whole vessel is about 90 feet long, elliptical and narrow, with space taken up by framework elements. Norm’s first order of business was to emphasize simplicity by paring down the design to only what was essential, and to make more room for socializing, relaxing, and living.
Inessential aspects of the framework were removed to provide more fluid transi- tions between the spaces within the hull, and furniture and storage elements were, where possible, built-in so as to be unobtrusive — a small wine fridge, cabinets, and drawers are set smoothly into wood-panelled walls, and doors slide across rather than swing to take up less space. The architects worked with, rather than against, the curved form of the ship to design a natural-feeling, relaxed space; everything, from the corners of the dining table to the edges of the walls, features smooth curves, with barely a single sharp corner seen throughout the entire hull. This flow helps negate the relative smallness of the space: so does the fact that many of the walls are made of thin wooden panels, which stretch the space vertically and make everything feel roomier. Layering is also used to give the impression that the space is more spacious and generous, like creating ledges behind the inbuilt sofas or astride doorways.
Safety was a top priority, and a unique challenge. Furniture and other objects need to be fastened and secured while the vessel is in motion, so they don’t get knocked around; passengers also need an abundance of places where they can hold on and steady themselves on rougher waters. A solution was found in ele- ments that strike a balance between safety and beautiful simplicity: a heavy black handrail that contrasts nicely with the wood of the stairs, an orange-dyed leather
98 BFM / SS23 FEATURES / SMOOTH SAILING
IMAGE COURTESY OF NORM ARCHITECTS & JONAS BJERRE-POULSEN.