Our involvement was to overhaul the thermal suite introducing a large hydrotherapy pool, a new glass fronted sauna and sanarium, a herbal steam room and a snow paradise, which was a first for London. Other elements include a reception and retail area as well as the upgrade of the changing and treatment room facilities.

K Spa has won the UK Best Luxury Hotel Spa award in the 2011 World Luxury Spa Awards.

We have enjoyed an excellent 10 year relationship with this client and are now able to bring all our extensive experience to bear on this major new build project.

Our innovative designs are taking Norwegian Cruise Line’s cruise philosophy to new levels of excellence and include all the design work for 50% of the public rooms, all signage and the commissioning and procurement of all artwork. This is a huge assignment and encompasses atriums, lounges, numerous themed restaurants, bars, clubs, bowling, casinos, retail outlets, spa and gymnasium, kids and teens’ areas and even an ice bar!

The continued involvement of SMC Design with P&O Australia has provided significant benefits in ensuring the brand identity and design philosophy are established across the growing fleet.

The Pacific Pearl was introduced to the expanding P&O Australia fleet in Auckland, New Zealand towards the end of 2010. SMC Design are proud to have partnered with P&O once again to undertake the re-branding and refurbishment to bring the new vessel in line with the existing fleet.

This project provided a clear demonstration of how the combination of interior design, graphic design and artwork consultancy can have major benefits for clients in ensuring a cohesive approach to the design process. With our involvement spanning 29 different areas of design, the principle areas included the Atrium incorporating Charlie’s Bar, Reception and retail outlets, the Casino, Spa, Waterfront Restaurant, Wine Room with an exclusive Chef’s table, Connexions, The Oval Pub, two new Teen Area’s, Mini Suites, Salt Grill, a speciality restaurant, Plantations Restaurant, The Dome night club and new outdoor BBQ.

Art was commissioned for most of the refurbished areas in the ship. The art came from a range of British artists who SMC Art worked closely with to create bespoke pieces that complimented the designs of individual areas. The art ranged from striking glass vessels in the Waterfront Restaurant, designed by Aaronson Noon and Notrianni Glass, to bold contemporary photography by Tyson Benton in the library.

A new wayfinding and directional system was installed in a clear, concise and contemporary style that would be neutral enough to work with the existing interiors. Brand recognition was maintained with new decorative signs being installed to renamed public rooms, thus bringing them in line with those existing on other P&O Australia ships.

In completing this large-scale refit, SMC Design has shown how our total design solution can achieve the best outcome on behalf of our clients and set the trend for all future designs.

SMC Design was first appointed as lead interior architects by P&O Ferries in 2007. P&O’s design objective for the new build of these Dover Strait vessels was very clear from the start of the project. P&O wanted to build efficient ships that specifically matched their short sea market.

As opposed to the usual way of working to the constraints of a shipyard arrangement plan, P&O appointed SMC to design around their core business requirements.

Once P&O were satisfied with the planning we worked in unison with naval architects Deltamarin to produce more detailed drawings & clearly defined plans and specifications that set out P&O’s exact design requirements. Adopting such a research programme enabled P&O Ferries to lead the design development prior going out to tender to the 17 selected shipyards worldwide.

We worked with P&O Ferries new build team to research various public spaces, taking influence from other European ferries to shopping malls & airports. Various innovative ideas, including passenger flow through to opportunistic revenue solutions, were studied and reviewed to see if and how they could be implemented into a short 90-minute crossing operation in a way to benefit the business.

Studies were also carried out on the existing fleet operational processes, with all aspects of the business being subject to examination. This ranged from onboard services to cleaning and maintenance issues. As part of these investigations the onboard crew numbers were reviewed to see if the vessels design could optimise operations more efficiently and respond to the quantity of passengers on board at any given time.

“The ‘P&O Ferries’ brand had a major influence into the interior colour scheme’s of these new ships. We wanted to create subliminal brand awareness built upon P&O Ferries corporate brand identity, by using colour pallets based on the house colours of the P&O flag. We also used these strong primary colours in the stairwells and car & freight decks to help with passenger navigation throughout the ship”.

“Being able to work with P&O Ferries new build and onboard services teams from such an early stage of the project, and in such depth has resulted in the success of both of these magnificent ships meeting our client’s expectations. Together these two ro-pax ferries now offer the very best of short sea ferry design in the world”.  Alan Stewart, Project Manager

In August 2011 SMC Design were selected by world renowned architects DEPA to design theentire public signage package for Raithwaite Hall.

Raithwaite Hall Country Retreat opened its door’s to the public on the 21^st October 2011. The new 45 bedroom, £30 million luxury hotel positioned in Sandsend, Whitby, is set to become the crown jewel of the East Coast.

The hotel is set within 80 tranquil acres of beautiful countryside on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, and located a short distance from the historic Whitby coast. Raithwaite Hall offers guests the ultimate in luxury and splendour in some of the country’s most breathtaking surroundings.

“From our initial meetings with Raithwaite’s managing director Richard Mansell it became evident that the success of the design for the signage of this country retreat had to be driven by the stunning countryside where Raithwaite is located”.

“The Raithwaite logo reflected country sports pursuits. We therefore worked closely with interior architects DEPA to further embrace the environment, with the specification of local materials such as limed oak timber. We also selected the tonal corporate colours to reflect the surrounding landscape & coastline.”

“In addition to the materials used, the directional signage had to be specially designed to allow for future expansion within the grounds. SMC Design essentially designed the way-finding signage to be easily interchangeable with the innovative use of an extending slat system to accommodate the complex as it grows in the future.” Anjaline Ram, Head of Graphics