Designing inspiring interiors onboard cruise ships

Petu Kummala explains the success behind 358 Design's successful interior design projects
Designing inspiring interiors onboard cruise ships
Petu Kummala runs a successful interidr design company in Miami, US

By Rebecca Gibson |


Ever since he was a young child, Petu Kummala has loved the sea and ships, and been fascinated by designing and customising objects, from artwork, to helmets, to cell phone covers. However, it may come as a surprise when he reveals that designing cruise ships was never one of his intended career paths.

“I initially wanted to design cars and motorbikes, but I studied naval architecture at university and eventually I found myself working with cruise ships,” he says.

Choosing a career in cruise ship design turned out to be a lucrative move for Kummala, particularly when he met renowned cruise ship architect Joe Farcus in 1990s.

“I met Joe many times over the years while I was managing interior design and construction projects onboard ships for Finnish engineering companies and after one shipyard meeting, he asked to move to Miami in the US and work with him – I took about ten seconds to say yes!” says Kummala. “We met briefly the next day and we started working together a few months later.”

Kummala worked with Farcus for 15 years until his retirement, building on his existing technical knowledge and developing various new skills. To date, he has been involved in almost 40 cruise ship projects, including 33 newbuilds.

“As I came from a technical side, I knew how to take an architect’s sketches and create layouts to make conceptual designs a reality, but working with Joe helped me to develop my interior design skills,” says Kummala. “One of Joe’s true strengths is optimising passenger flow and creating the overall concept and design of the ship and I’ve had the pleasure of learning how to do this alongside him.”

Yet, the most important thing Farcus taught him, notes Kummala, was how to establish a productive working environment and successfully manage a team. “Building cruise ships is a complicated process and involves a large number of people who don’t always see eye to eye – including designers, the shipyard and the owner – but Joe always treated everyone equally as part of the same team,” he says. “He knew how to get the best out of people and placed a lot of trust in me. In fact, we didn’t ever sign a contract; we simply met, agreed our main terms, shook hands and that was it. The agreement worked perfectly for 15 years.”

This trust and productive working atmosphere is something Kummala has replicated with the team he leads at his own company, 358 Design.

“When people enjoy what they’re doing and they’re all focused on meeting the same goal, they put in the maximum amount of effort to deliver the best possible result,” he says. “There’s quite a small circle of ship designers, architects and builders, so I’m very lucky to be able to work with many great people that I also consider friends.”

Based in Miami, US, 358 Design works on cruise ships, commercial, hospitality, residential and industrial projects, helping clients with everything from concept planning, to interior, lighting and furniture design, to project management and technical tasks. Currently, 358 Design is working on various newbuilds and also on refurbishment projects, a relatively new area for Kummala.

“Although my team is very experienced in carrying out refurbishments, I was so busy with newbuilds in the past that I didn’t have time to get involved in those projects,” he explains. “However, I like new challenges and my construction experience is very beneficial during ship refurbishments, particularly now that interior design is becoming more innovative.”

Kummala is no stranger to innovation. During his very first, and most memorable, cruise ship project he was asked to design multiple raised curved shapes to cover the walls and ceiling of the ship’s public venues.

“Although most drawings were still drafted by hand at the time, I managed to convince my boss to let me use computer-aided design tools to create the shapes so they could be easily replicated and constructed,” explains Kummala. “Each piece had to be cut from 1.2m by 2.4m sheets, so I had to create almost 200 drawings and I was quite worried they wouldn’t all fit onboard. Thankfully they did!”

He concludes: ”Finding a way to bring a design concept to life is often the most important part of the design process – if you can create a ‘crazy’ or unusual design that can be built easily, you’re onto something great. This is exactly what we aim to achieve at 358 Design.”

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