When luxury meets sustainable design, anything is possible.
A multidisciplinary design company called 3deluxe has revealed a new zero-carbon superyacht concept that aims to pack the latest sustainable advancements into a package of pure luxury, according to a new page from the firm’s website.
And, most notably, they hope those who buy luxury ships designed with a sustainable philosophy will repurpose the vessels for ethical education.
Raised side-walls can regulate light exposure of upper-decks
The new design, called “VY-01”, emphasizes a nature-first engineering strategy, aiming to maximize open, light-intensive spaces to make room for a greenhouse, kitchen, bar, lounge living space, and a vegetable garden. That means the crew can grow and cultivate food onboard, with fresh fish available in the ocean, and any extra supplies needed for the plants will be made available by the yacht’s seawater desalination system, which uses zero-carbon solar panels placed on the roof and exterior of the vessel. In general, the superyacht is designed for relaxation, online business meetings, workouts, and celebrations with friends and frenemies.
Conceptual art of the new vessel’s open garden. Source: 3deluxe
The exterior of the vessel is strongly defined by a homogenous, closed shape, and provides minimal resistance to wind and inclement weather, enabling the hull to blend almost seamlessly with the side, all the way up to the tip of the ship. It also has louvers controlled via sensors that are integrated into the raised side walls, so that a computer system can regulate the upper deck’s exposure to light. The flat roof is also glazed, enabling sunlight to pass inside of the vessel, and the sensor-controlled louvers also feature transparent photovoltaic cells to power lights, the desalination system, and air conditioning.
A side view of the new superyacht, with transparent photovoltaic panels. Source: 3deluxe
Designers hope the luxury ship will be used to educate the youth on sustainable technology
Perhaps more interesting is the superyacht’s ability to close the sidewalls during speedy navigation, or even when heavy weather strikes. The wheelhouse is positioned at the bow, which enables the open sundeck stationed behind it to extend without a hitch into a single open space. Finally, the stern of the ship features a saltwater pool, in addition to a small marina, where the crew can enjoy direct access to the open ocean. The ship’s designers at 3deluxe hope that whoever buys the ship will make it a center of educational and training purposes when not being operated for personal use. This, it’s argued, would compensate for the obvious elitist context of owning a luxury ship in a time of great global strife and suffering. On the other hand, it is a one-stop-shop of some of the most advanced sustainable energy technology that moves through the same oceans environments humans have altered for hundreds of years, which means the young, particularly students and those who find entrepreneurial businesses ventures based on similar sustainable concepts aspirational could use the vessel as unconventional venues, where summits, think-tanks, and conferences can happen.
Sadly, luxury vehicles will inevitably consume a great abundance of resources, and typically not via zero-carbon manufacturing practices. This is why vessels of the luxurious variety could serve a greater public good if they were offered to the people as something everyone could use to develop ways of slowing the rapid pace of climate change and ensuring future-oriented business practices that understand the difference between transporting carbon-intensive manufacturing processes upward in the chain of modern manufacturing (to mining, fossil fuel-powered assembly, deforestation, and pollution in general) from wholly sustainable ones, that can be created, operated, and maintained with zero negative impact on the environment.