9 5 provide an intimate, elegant and welcoming atmosphere. The line’s new luxury polar exploration vessel – Le Commandant Charcot – which was delivered in 2021, offers a new signature style from French designers Jean-Michel Wilmotte and Jean-Philippe Nuel Studio to position the ship among the most sophisticated on the planet. Jean-Philippe Nuel Studio has been working with the firm since the launch of Le Boréal in 2010. His work on Le Commandant Charcot comprised the restaurants, theatre, conference room, the main lounge, and the staterooms and suites. For the latter two, Nuel wanted to emphasise the concept of traditional sea travel, with leatherwork, handles and drawers recalling the cabin trunks of the past. He also used natural materials such as stone, wood and warm woollen fabrics, and a colour scheme centred around grey-blues and beige. Wilmotte was responsible for several areas including the atrium, the wellness area with its winter garden, the Observation Lounge, the outside area and two Blue Lagoon pools on Deck 9, and the Expeditions Rooms. “The founding idea was to use real materials that enable us to highlight the ship’s rigour, serenity, light, warmth and fluidity,” says Wilmotte. “We wanted to offer optimal comfort and also establish a dialogue between the interior and exterior of the ship. We chose a range of warm greys, black and white marbles, stoneware and rough sawn wood. These materials are used to either catch the light or absorb it, to structure the spaces or bring fluidity, magnify the minerality and invite touch.” Despite the creative freedom of projects like these, there are restrictions. “The International Maritime Organization rules are changing to improve the quality of the materials used for shipbuilding,” says Petiteau. “For example, we decided to install a lithiumion energy storage system onboard Le Commandant Charcot, so we needed to secure the recycling process of its batteries at the contract stage. “There is increasing pressure to develop vessels that reduce negative environmental impacts by considering all stages of their life cycles. This “ There is increasing pressure to develop vessels that reduce negative environmental impacts by considering all stages of their life cycles” Mathieu Petiteau Photo: Ponant/Gilles Trillard
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