Giopato & Coombes were selected by Giulio Cappellini to participate in the workshop Flydeas in collaboration with AgustaWestland and Interni Magazine to design a helicopter interior for the new AW169. Following the huge success of the exhibition held in April during the furniture fair, Giopato & Coombes are presenting a virtual tour of their project via their website and the social channels facebook and instagram.
They presented an interior which breaks the boundaries of the standard VIP helicopter flight experience. The concept “A Statified World” sees different aspects of design layered on top of one another, from interior architecture to the adaptation of home appliances such as LG’s curved led TV technology to create an immersive total flying experience. Their wide-reaching research saw the application of proxemics, noise-absorbing paint, the construction of full-scale ergonomic mock-ups of the helicopter cabin, carbon fibre armchairs inspired by the Ducati Monster, custom designed headphones and important innovations such as the use of airbags to protect luggage in the hold.
The design began with the reorganization of architectural shadow lines and windows as an effort to clean away unnecessary visual confusion, closely following by an integrated wall composite that combines led lighting, noise-reducing nano-materials and fibreglass beta cloth. The seating layout respects proxemic distances whilst encouraging multiple concurrent interactions via the exterior landscape, other passengers, and the helicopter itself via the central infotainment hub more commonly used in stock exchanges. Giopato & Coombes design journey continued into the detailing of air-conditioning vents, a champagne cooler, copper seatbelts, titanium reading lights and much more.
