Meet the 26 speakers at the 2016 Superyacht Design Symposium

For the first time, speakers at the Superyacht Design Symposium will consist of superyacht industry experts and some of the biggest names from the wider design community.

Stephen Bayley, Chairman of the Superyacht Design Symposium

Stephen is an author, critic, columnist, consultant, broadcaster, debater and curator, of whom Tom Wolfe famously said, “I don’t know anybody with more interesting observations about style, taste and contemporary design”.  He also works with designers, architects, consumer goods and manufacturing businesses at the highest level, including Ford, Coca-Cola, BMW and Conran.

His best-selling books and award-winning journalism have, over the past thirty years, changed the way the world thinks about design. With Terence Conran he created the influential Boilerhouse Project in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, which became the capital’s most successful exhibition space during the Eighties and evolved into the influential Design Museum in 1989.

Stephen was formally educated at Manchester University and Liverpool University School of Architecture and, as well as his books and broadcasting work, he writes for a huge range of publications including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, GQ, The Official Ferrari Magazine and The Financial Times.

With the backing and guidance of Stephen Bayley, the Superyacht Design Symposium will continue to stimulate and inspire debate and will encourage designers from all over the world, from all genres, to share their stories and expertise, sewing the seeds for the superyacht projects of tomorrow.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Superyacht Owner Panel

Nick Candy is a British real estate entrepreneur and businessman best known for co-founding global luxury interior design firm Candy & Candy and for his role in some of the most high profile real estate projects in recent times.

In 1995, Nick and his brother Christian bought their first property in with the help of a £6,000 loan from their grandmother. They renovated it in their own style and successfully sold it on 18 months later at a substantial profit.

Candy & Candy was then established in 1999 and quickly went on to become one of the world’s leading luxury interior design firms, recognised internationally for designing the most luxurious real estate in the most coveted locations, as well as designing superyachts, jets, luxury cars and a wide range of commercial environments.

The company’s most high profile project – the globally celebrated One Hyde Park residential development in Knightsbridge, London – revolutionised the residential property market worldwide, breaking industry records and setting unparalleled new standards in luxury design and living.

Nick has also diversified his interests outside of Candy & Candy by adding several new companies and investments to his portfolio in real estate, technology, media and telecommunications, healthcare and natural resources.

An Italian architect with a degree in Construction Science from the University of Florence, Cristina Gherardi Benardeau, founder of Paris-based CG Design, has solid experience in the luxury world.

She began her career by conceiving all the Virgin Megastores and Kenzo stores in France, and several departmental stores for the Brunswig family in Switzerland. In1994 she joined LVMH as Director of Architecture for Christian Dior Couture developing luxury retail projects worldwide. Those years featured close collaboration with Jacques Grange and Peter Marino for a new architectural concept and the opening of flagship stores in Paris, New York, Geneva, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Next she created the first Giorgio Armani Interior Design Studio in New York, working closely with Mr. Armani designing private homes and residential real estate projects worldwide. At Armani Casa, she designed her first yacht, Odessa, a 53-meter Christensen that won the 2010 ShowBoats Design Award for Best Interior Design. The following year, she founded CG Design in part to respond to the request to design a second yacht for Odessa’s owner. Savannah, his 83.5 meter yacht Feadship, is a finalist for this year’s Design Awards. Meanwhile, residential projects for private clients as well as real estate development for Fendi continues in Dubai, Riyadh and Moscow.

She credits the luxury world and working in a varied cultural universe for her sophisticated design yet insists her firm’s primary aim is to conserve a very strong architectural approach.

“Our aesthetic is contemporary, however, each project is the result of thematic research based on the client’s expectations and taste, the site, and the cultural environment, bringing together the French art of living, Italian design and American functionality,” she says.

Monégasque Naval Architect Richard Hein has taken on many roles in the yachting world. He began his career opening a sales and design office in the US for Guy Couach and then moved to the then-largest US yacht builder Broward Marine as its in-house designer, where he was responsible for drawing the yards landmark 120-footers.

In 1984 he returned to his native Monaco and opened The A Group design studio where his yachts caught the attention of several European yards and led to him being tapped to help begin Oceanco and then serve as its chief designer and CEO for 12 years, during which time the yard delivered 18 yachts from 35 to 95 meters including the Stargate twins and Al-Mirqab, the biggest yachts ever built in The Netherlands to that time. A management buyout of Oceanco headed by Hein and backed by yacht owner Theodore Angelopoulos, took place in 2002 and in 2004, Hein stepped down as CEO turning sole ownership of the yard to Angelopoulos.

Augmenting his design studio, Hein established VegaYachts, a project development and management company focused on vessels in the 100-meter range. Its first project is the world’s first unrestricted PYC class yacht. The 101-meter IDynasty was launched at the Kusch Yachts shipyard in Germany during November 2014 and delivered successfully to her owner in July 2015. Various projects between 70 and 135 meters are currently in development at The A Group along with exclusive residential properties in The Bahamas.

“Thanks to our background as yacht builders, all our original and innovative designs incorporate construction knowledge, particularly the complex PYC,” says Hein.

“At The A group, we design to build.”

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Superyacht Owner Panel

Owner and captain of 41m Superyacht Komokwa, Brian O’Sullivan is a self-proclaimed ‘meat and potatoes boater’ who states; ‘luxury for the sake of luxury’s sake has never interested me, unless it serves a higher purpose.’

Currently the President of the Mexico Power Group, Brian is an entrepreneur with an active career in sustainable wind energy and most recently solar energy. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Wind Energy Associations and is founder of the California Wind Energy Association.

In October 2013 Brian departed from Vancouver, Canada for an extended round the world cruise, stopping in at the Montenegro Rendezvous on the back of his tour of the Balearic Islands.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Form vs Function

Andrew Winch has been in the specialist yacht design environment for over thirty years. Having grown up sailing on the south coast of England in dinghies and cruising yachts, his love of the sea embodies all of his work. Formal training at St Martins’ School of Art, London and Kingston College of Art laid the foundations for his career. This was followed by a year sailing as a crew member across the Atlantic and in the Caribbean on a private 52 foot sailing yacht.

On his return he joined Jon Bannenberg Ltd as an apprentice designer. Here he learned his trade and went on to collaborate with Bannenberg on four major sailing yachts; Shirley B (80ft), Acharne (112ft Huisman), Garuda (102ft Nautor custom) and Starlight (94ft).

In 1986, Andrew launched “Winch Design” with his wife Jane. Since its foundation, the studio has delivered 75 super yachts including both sailing and motor yacht projects – and has won over 30 prestigious awards from the leading awards bodies. With dedicated Exterior and Interior Yacht design departments and a highly experienced decorating team, AWD offers its clients a fully turnkey design package. The studio’s 2013 deliveries include  Madame Gu (99m Feadship), Sea Owl (62m Feadship) and Inoui (33m Vitters).

Andrew places great importance on nurturing and developing the AWD team. Based in a converted fire station on the banks of the Thames in London, the AWD team of 70 people (who hail from all over the world) is today recognised as one of the leading International Design Studios.