9 6 SMC Design was instrumental in the design of the Britannia Lounge (left) and the Lido area (right) onboard Saga Cruises’ Spirit of Discovery INTERV IEW Trust the process Alan Stewart, senior associate at SMC Design, tells Lindsay James about the design processes that transform a space into a room SMC Design is no stranger to success. With over 30 years’ experience, the firm has worked on over 70 newbuild projects and countless more refurbishments, boasting an enviable list of clients that reads like a who’s who of the cruise business. “It’s been an incredible few months,” explains Alan Stewart, one of the firm’s stalwarts. “SMC has continued to add the correct creative talent to the team to undertake the wonderful variety of projects we are involved in. We’ve got lots of repeat business in the mix, which is great, but also a lot of new clients. The newbuild market is really buoyant at the moment, which means there’s also a lot of refit work as many operators are selling off their old ships.” For all of these clients, Stewart relishes the opportunity to transform a space into a room. “It’s very satisfying when all of the fundamental parts of the process – function and location; area and capacity; brand and passenger demographic; and narrative – all sing together,” he says. The design of a new space begins by the room type, Stewart explains. “We start the process with what we call ‘block planning’. It’s very important to understand the function of the space early on – and from this we usually evaluate numerous locations in order to select the optimum locations for each particular space and the placement study of how well certain spaces relate to one another. For example, some rooms require much quieter locations, while some may benefit from natural light and ocean views. Other spaces require darker locations and can be more high energy rooms which are more likely to be noisier.” Once the best possible location has been selected, Stewart and his team
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=