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Recreational Island
By Angela Audretsch. Jan 31, 2012
BMT Nigel Gee, a company of the BMT Group, has collaborated on a new project with young designer Henry Ward of Henry Ward Design. Another take on the existing idea of a floating island, the Recreational Island will be a superyacht accessory designed primarily to allow guests to spend time away from the mothership.Measuring 10 metres by 8 metres when deployed, the design concept is a floating platform that can be folded and stored in the tender bay of a large yacht. Easily deployed using two standard overhead tender cranes, it can be towed by a tender in its folded position to a preferred location. Its size means that it can access shallow bays that the yacht cannot access or simply to act as a stern extension to the yacht’s existing transom platform, offering a large and flexible space for recreation, dining and relaxing. The platform has been designed to include a dynamic positioning system that will lock the island to a specific set of coordinates, preventing it from drifting away. The team are also investigating an anchoring system.
Another potential use of the platform is as a portable helicopter landing pad. This could mean that existing superyachts that do not have landing facilities on board will have the ability to host helicopters. Even new designs could use this platform as a flexible facility on board without the need to sacrifice valuable deck space.
Henry Ward is a recent graduate of Transport Design and the concept began as part of his final year project. Recognising the creativity of Henry Ward Design, BMT agreed to invest in the concept to assess technical feasibility and engineer the design further. “This project is a perfect match for BMT Nigel Gee,” says James Roy, yacht design director. “We recognise that creativity drives innovation and it is encouraging to see young designers such as Henry initiating ideas such as the Recreational Island. We are strong believers in recognising that the creation and development of new ideas is best accomplished in a collaborative manner - bringing together unique capabilities to achieve the optimum result.”
The team are also investigating the possibility of applying the Recreational Island into the hotel industry, as well as the military and events sectors. “We see many potential applications,” says designer Ward. “Whilst we continue to technically develop the design further, we are actively seeking a manufacturer who is interested in investing in the development of the product and bringing it to market.”
You can read more on this project in Issue 129 of The Superyacht Report. To subscribe to TSR or any other products of The Superyacht Group, click here.
Related Links:
BMT Nigel Gee - company profile | company website
Henry Ward Design - company profile | company website
Recreational Island - website
