Seymourpowell unveils design details of ‘Aircruise’: a clipper in the clouds
UK-based product design consultancy Seymourpowell has unveiled details of its visionary transportation concept Aircruise - a giant, vertical airship or ‘a hotel in the sky’ - powered by natural energy.
Aircruise project is a visionary concept work for Korean giant Samsung Construction and Trading (C&T) that explores the future of travel and transport.
Originally a self-generated project, Seymourpowell's Aircruise is the concept design for a 'hotel in the sky', designed to carry travelers in style and luxury, with low passenger numbers and huge internal spaces, offering room for living, dining and relaxing, as well as scope for dramatic and inspirational public spaces. The initial design proposes a bar/lounge zone, four duplex
apartments, a penthouse and five smaller apartments.
The concept subsequently captured the imagination of Samsung C&T. Driven by its interest in new materials for building, Samsung C&T appointed Seymourpowell to refine the idea and produce a detailed computer animation of the proposed experience to illustrate this visionary approach to the future.
Nick Talbot, design director at Seymourpowell explains, "The Aircruise concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel. A more serene transport experience will appeal to people looking for a more reflective journey, where the experience of travel itself is more important than getting from A to B quickly."
Talbot explains, "The physics of the airship requires a gigantic volume of lifting gas, yet simultaneously demands a relatively limited amount of weight. This allows for a potentially large amount of space with relatively few people onboard - a luxury for any traveler." Lifted by hydrogen and powered by solar energy, the Aircruise concept also has obvious environmental benefits.
Although only a conceptual proposal, the transportation design team at Seymourpowell developed a detailed and achievable technical specification for the craft. Proposed conceptual specifications for Aircruise include: from the docking rig at the base to the tip, the ship will be 265 meters tall; Hydrogen, the lightest gas, will be used as the lifting gas, capable of lifting around 1.2Kg per cubic meter of volume; and large PEM hydrogen fuel cells will provide on board power and drinking water.
