Designing crew quarters aboard superyachts

Star Fish has an owner’s deck, complete with swimming pool, which let Marshall turn the valuable real estate on the main deck forward into a home-away-from-home for her crew. In addition to a huge galley, there is a large crew lounge to port – a major change in design from Big Fish, which has its lounge on the lower deck. Star Fish’s crew lounge incorporates a media area/coffee bar, small galley and large dining/meeting area. It features large, floor-to-ceiling windows that would not be physically possible on the lower deck.

On Big Fish, the crew quarters are finished to the level of the guest areas and are similar in décor. But when Marshall asked the crew about the new boat, they surprised him by saying they didn’t want as intricate an interior this time.

‘They wanted an interior with much less maintenance, and in addition, they wanted another décor that designated that they were in their off-time, so that they don’t feel like they are just in another space in the owner’s quarters,’ he says. ‘So the décor in the crew lounge is a bit like a trendy café. It’s decorated like nothing else on the rest of the boat, so it’s purely their space.’

Another improvement that Star Fish offers the crew is private access to the exterior deck.

‘From the crew lounge, they can go directly up onto the deck, instead of having to go through the owner’s spaces,’ Marshall says. ‘They end up with sort of an inside/outside crew space, and on nice days they can let fresh air into the lounge.’

Star Fish is not MLC compliant, ‘but it’s really close,’ Marshall adds. (His next design for this owner, 54m Sword Fish, will be designed to MLC standards.) In Marshall’s opinion, the MLC regulations on outdoor recreation space for crew may have an even bigger impact on superyacht design than the regulations for their sleeping areas. The question for owners, he says, is: ‘Where do you want the crew to hang out outside?’

Update: Star Fish was badly damaged in a yard fire during 2012. Her hull is currently for sale to a buyer who wishes to complete her superstructure.