DESIGN I NVESTMENT
1. A HIGH-DENSITY BUSINESS
CLASS SEAT LAYOUT THAT DOESN’T
COMPROMISE PASSENGER COMFORT
2. THE ZERO G SEAT SUPPORTS
BLOOD CIRCULATION IN THE BODY
3. A CONCEPT FOR SINGLE AISLE
FIRST CLASS THAT COMBINES
PRIVACY WITH AN OPEN FEEL
4. THE SINGLE-AISLE FIRST CLASS
DESIGN FEATURES A COSY FIREEFFECT
LIGHTING FEATURE
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
ANNUAL SHOWCASE 2020 073
stimulate our design work,” states Collins.
“The ideas resulting from our R&D work
are not intended to be final or ultimate
solutions. However, these ideas ensure
that we keep challenging ourselves, the
industry and aviation design in general –
and this makes us a strong business
partner for our airline customers.”
This time to be creative offers a perfect
counterbalance when working in the
technically driven aviation industry,
within which the team works closely
with engineering teams to provide viable
and relevant design solutions.
The Design Investment team finds that
designing around a strict brief is easier
than starting with a blank sheet, as it is
the constraints of cabin design that build
the envelope in which they can unfold their
creativity. However, when beginning an
R&D project, the team does approach
the task without being constrained by
branding guidelines or passenger survey
results. For this exercise they step out of
the standard design process path, to look
at challenges from a different perspective.
One approach the team has found
successful is ‘what if?’. For example,
what if you allow yourself to change a
supposedly critical and never changed
element?; what if you remove something
usually considered important?; what if
you try to marry different elements,
functionalities or uses that seem
contradictory?; what if you transfer a
feature, element or function from another
industry into an aviation product?
There is no limit to the design topics
that can be explored and challenged. From
broad subjects like layouts or seat count,
the Design Investment team dedicates
itself to questions about tomorrow’s
way of travelling (companion v individual),
technical aspects like seat mechanisms,
and of course passenger comfort.
CHALLENGING LAYOUTS
To challenge a layout is to challenge the
foundation of a seat product. For example,
the team wanted to work around the idea
of a single-aisle layout in a wide-body
aircraft. The design exploration journey
started here and was the origin of ‘La
Causeuse’. Contrary to today’s trend of
closing off first class spaces by introducing
fully enclosed private suites, Design
Investment opted to explore an open and
spacious cabin experience that offers
added value to the first class passenger:
namely an exclusive club atmosphere
where privacy is a given and is respected,
while still offering a much more open and
generous cabin. The concept shows that
privacy is feasible without needing
physical separation with walls, and yet
“ THE CONSTRAINTS OF CABIN DESIGN
BUILD THE ENVELOPE IN WHICH THE
TEAM CAN UNFOLD THEIR CREATIVITY”
Design
Investment’s
aviation work
includes cabins,
seating, lighting
and liveries
3
4
/aircraftinteriorsinternational.com