Concept design for a hotel in the sky unveiled
Published: 08 Feb 2010
Design and innovation company Seymourpowell has shared details of its visionary transportation concept, Aircruise.
It is being described as a giant, vertical airship powered by natural energy and designed to carry travellers in style and luxury.
Originally a self-generated project, Seymourpowell’s Aircruise is the concept design for a hotel in the sky, 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.
Nick Talbot, design director at Seymourpowell, said, “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.”
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 traveller.
Talbot added, “It’s a world cruise not limited to the ocean, offering instead the dream-like quality and absolute freedom of flight. Passengers can choose to dine thousands of feet above a city, or take in the view whilst moving through the air over the ocean or a national landmark.”
Samsung C&T has appointed Seymourpowell to refine the idea and produce a detailed computer animation of the proposed experience to illustrate this visionary approach to the future.
Seung Min Kim, design director at Samsung C&T, said, “In an age when environmental impact is a key consideration for architecture, we are keen to extend this vision of the future by searching for solutions that can be realised by 2015 - the year that many futurologists foresee as the turning point for the future.”
Proposed conceptual specifications for Aircruise as follows:
From the docking rig at the base to the tip, the ship is 265 metres tall. Hydrogen, the lightest gas, is used as the lifting gas, and is capable of lifting around 1.2Kg per cubic metre of volume. Large PEM hydrogen fuel cells will provide on board power and some drinking water.
The volume of the main envelope in the ship is calculated at 330,000 cubic metres, which equals 396,000 Kg of available lift at sea level (1,000Kg = 1 Tonne (t)).
Comments
Post new comment