Experiencing space on board Sanlorenzo’s SX120

The 37-metre Sanlorenzo SX120 may be the largest in the Italian builder’s SX crossover range, yet the design focuses less on scale and more on how space is experienced on board. The shipyard spent a year refining the SX120 concept with long-standing collaborator Bernardo Zuccon of Zuccon International Project, who first worked on the general arrangement and layout before focusing on the exterior.

With three hulls sold before the first even hit water, he refers to the new model as “a manifesto” that outlines a clear, declarative statement of the original design philosophy, bringing the SX line, which began with the SX88 penned by Officina Italiana Design in 2017, full circle.

The original SX88 blended a raised pilothouse-cum-explorer aesthetic with the sociability and open layout of a flybridge yacht, creating a crossover concept that didn’t previously exist in the Italian builder’s lineup.

“When Sanlorenzo debuted the SX88, I told them I believed it to be a masterpiece that would crack open an entirely new yachting segment,” says Zuccon, who went on to design the SX76, the SX112 presented as the flagship in 2020, and the SX100. “I love the style of the SX112, but I consider the SX120 to be the greatest evolution of the concept,” he says.

The SX120 is defined by signature sporty lines and wide onboard living spaces that prioritise circulation and multi-use zones. It’s also the first composite yacht to feature Volvo Penta’s new IPS professional platform (also destined for the SX132), which uses twin 1,000-horsepower engines per pod.

The benefits are many: it reduces fuel consumption, lowers emissions and requires a smaller engine room. This frees up useable interior volume, allowing for a remodelled flexible stern layout – an evolution that Zuccon credits as “one of the winning exterior design features of the SX120”.

Two fold-down side hatches increase the aft deck footprint to 70 square metres. Cut-outs either side of the superstructure provide clear views of the sea, with guests perched in Living Divani Café armchairs penned by the yacht’s interior designer, Piero Lissoni. “For the first time, we had the opportunity to do something special in the aft, including the installation of a swimming pool, which we previously didn’t have room for,” explains Zuccon.

He doesn’t share the industry’s love of onboard pools – “for me it’s just showing off, I prefer to swim in the sea” – yet his firm grip on market demands means he considers it a triumph for the SX120. Not one to waste an opportunity, he made the pool convertible with fixed sliding sunpads that cover it when not in use, similar to the transforming pool seen on Sanlorenzo’s X-Space series. For those who share Zuccon’s opinion of pools, the space can also be used for integrated jet ski storage.

A large sliding glass door leads into a cosy lower-deck beach club – or “ocean lounge” as Zuccon calls it – with a corner bar and Knoll’s Grasshopper Triple-Top coffee table and Matic sofa. A rattan rug cements the transition from outdoor teak floors to an indoor bastion of well-being.

“The SX120 has been designed for people who enjoy being at anchor, with client feedback highlighting a preference for an enclosed beach area,” says Gregorio Nazzani, Sanlorenzo’s project manager and technical leader.

For Zuccon, it’s more than a beach club. “It’s the main entrance to the boat, and it is directly connected to the lower-deck guest quarters,” he says, likening the arrangement to the radical interior layout of Sanlorenzo’s 50Steel Almax, which he spent a week on board last summer. “When you can reach your cabin without passing through the main deck living area, you enhance the connection with the outdoors, take fewer steps and life aboard is easier.”

Zuccon spearheaded a “less is more” design philosophy, one that resonated with the owner who bought the first hull in June 2025 and intends to list the yacht for charter. The owner benefited from purchasing the inaugural hull, as it features the Lissoni & Partners interior complete with a selection of optional enhancements that will be available to future SX120 owners.

That includes novel flexibility baked into the four lower deck guest cabins – two VIPS, two doubles – whereby Piero Lissoni decided to “improve the feeling of open-plan living” by creating a sliding wall system in one of the guest cabins to allow owners to use it as a dedicated guest lounge.

Each of the guest cabins have en suites with black marble-effect ceramic tiles by Atlas Concorde and glass-fluted wardrobe doors that maximise the sense of space and light. The lower deck hammam, offered standard, further illustrates the customisation possibilities. The space is utilised as a storage area on the first hull, and it’s used as a private dressing room for one of the VIP cabins by the American owner of hull No 2. The lower deck forward contains the galley, laundry, crew mess and accommodation for six crew.

“The SX120 is a spectacular [example of] floating architecture,” says Lissoni. “We took all the things the other SXs taught us and put them here.” A fine example of the yacht’s architectural design elements is seen in the sculptural wooden staircase, designed by Lissoni and positioned in the heart of the yacht. “In the original layout, my sister and I created this huge staircase that connects all four decks,” says Zuccon.

“You have the potential for a private owner’s deck ona 37-metre yacht. That’s unheard of”

“We’ve been collaborating on projects with Piero for around eight years and share the same vision and approach, so we sketched a traditional staircase but left Piero free to reinterpret it and create something unique.” And unique it is.

Both functional and a work of art, its fluid form corkscrews through the yacht, surrounded at the base by bronze statues of herons and ceramic urns. Its organic shape is mirrored in the round curves of loose furniture, the ceilings punctuated by refined wooden quills that continue vertically along the walls and steel-effect inserts. Meanwhile, the flooring alternates between parquet and carpet.

The owner’s cabin, found main deck forward, is characterised by higher ceilings and a backlit feature headboard covered in a textural weave by Dedar. It serves as a decorative privacy screen on entering, as well as a partition separating the bedroom from the dressing area. Accessing the foredeck from the cabin reveals a terrace with large lounging sunpads that conceal a built-in table that rises and falls on stainless-steel legs.

The aft main saloon continues the soft-edged interior theme, with a curved corner bar, fluffy white pouffes by Living Divani and Michele De Lucchi’s distinctive 1980s Kristall lacquered wood coffee table clad in decorative laminate. A full-height mirror wall reflects the al fresco dining action on the main deck aft, where steps down to the extended stern platform complete a circulatory loop. “Now you have the potential for a private owner’s deck on a 37-metre yacht, with guests self-contained on the lower deck. That’s unheard of,” says Zuccon.

In this version of the yacht, the upper saloon is designated for dining with a large round glass table sat atop a wooden trunk taking centre stage and paired with De Padova’s Donzelletta dining chairs. “This area also lends itself to a media room or playroom, at the owner’s request,” says Nazzani, pointing out what he considers the room’s most interesting feature, a glass partition that affords a clear view into the bridge, including the captain’s varnished wooden wheel and navigation screens.

It has the feel of an outside helm with all the comfort of a snug wheelhouse. Large drop-drown windows either side of the upper saloon reinforce a connection with the outdoors, while the aft deck, accessed via sliding glass doors, is set with seating and tables for post-meal relaxation. An external staircase leads to the SX120’s final innovation, the first sundeck within the SX range.