- Interior
In the interior of this luxury yacht you will be immersed in a palette of warm colours, tactile materials and soft minimalism. The Danish studio Norm Architects implemented its distinctive essentialist aesthetic and made the interior of the 'Bella' yacht feel so homely and elegant with a touch of understated luxury.
Bella is the first example of the Y/Yachts model Y7 made by Michael Schmidt Yachtbau in Greifswald. She is twenty meters long and was designed in collaboration with the American designer Bill Tripp, who has launched a lot of yachts. The yacht is defined both internally and externally by minimalist aesthetics and materiality. A luxury yacht ultimately requires a luxury interior. Norm Architects therefore opted for a sophisticated look with refined, natural materials, tactile surfaces and matte finishes. "The final result perfectly reflects our philosophy and aesthetics through the sleek and clean interior design, the chosen materials and the craftsmanship," says Katrine Goldstein, managing director and partner at Norm Architects. We talked with her about the studio and their very first yacht interior design. 
The interior spaces feel homely and elegant, with a touch of understated luxury.
First yacht
The client wanted a beautiful Scandinavian interior and who better to achieve this than Norm Architects. The Danish studio designed the interior for Bella – their first interior design for a yacht – for the German company Michael Schmidt Yachtbau. "Michael wanted us to create a home on a boat and to do what we always do," says Goldstein. The distinctive style of the studio is exactly why the customer chose Norm Architects instead of a traditional and more experienced boat interior design company. According to Goldstein, he took a risk in this way, but a well calculated risk because the result is beautiful! We asked about the experience of the designers with this yacht design in comparison with their other projects. "The main difference is that you have to respect the obvious premises such as the limited space, the weight of the materials and that everything has to be secured with either locks or by means of edges that prevent things from sliding off tables and shelves. Apart from that, we have simply worked as we always do: with natural materials, subtle and earthy colours and beautiful details to underline the exclusivity of the space," says Goldstein. 
For this yacht, the designers were inspired by the use of wood, which is almost a given on most boats, and the desire to straighten up and simplify the many curves and round corners that you usually experience. "Our main inspiration, I think, was to create a residence and not a boat in the typical sense," says Goldstein. The look of the yacht from the outside was also a source of inspiration. The internal construction was adapted and aligned to the outside and thus corrects the unnecessary to achieve a simpler framework. It follows the natural curves and shapes of the ship and reflects its equally minimalist exterior. 
Tactile & natural palette
With tactile surfaces, natural materials and matte finishes, Norm Architects tried to create a warm and exclusive feeling. The chosen materials amplify each other thanks to their textures. You will find applied wood veneer and papier stone, architectural hardware in blackened steel and contrasts in smooth and coarse-woven textiles. The colours are tone-on-tone for a subdued, moody setting. The different shades of brown and beige create a warm, homely atmosphere that is further emphasised by the lighting. There are, for example, subtle lamps built into shelves and cabinets. Everything has been seamlessly designed. In this way, the designers created a lot of built-in furniture and everything seems to merge smoothly together. The unseen craftsmanship of the walls, panels, lighting, details and furnishings harmonizes beautifully into a subdued luxury in which we immediately recognize Norm Architects' signature style. "We focused on a simpler framework by correcting the unnecessary elements of the boat and embracing the neutral curves of the ship," Goldstein explains.
Read the full article in our issue Imagicasa Autumn 2019. 
Images © Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen