Bolidt Hosts Inaugural Design Challenge for the Cruise Sector

Leading resin applications specialist Bolidt has launched its first ever Design Challenge, inviting established and student designers to submit concepts for innovative cruise ship interior solutions.

The Bolidt Design Challenge 2021 aims to inspire innovation in passenger ship interior design by inviting concept submissions for resin-based floor and wall coverings, ceiling hangings and artwork in general. Submissions are sought from designers, developers, inventors, artists and other creatives and will be judged in two categories: practising designers and student designers.

Explaining the idea behind the initiative, Jacco van Overbeek, director of Bolidt’s maritime division, said: “The cruise industry is going through arguably its most difficult period, facing environmental regulations and evolving passenger expectations while navigating a pandemic unprecedented in the modern era. For the sector to overcome these challenges and ensure success in the years and decades ahead, it requires creative solutions – and nothing sparks creativity like some healthy competition.”

Participants are encouraged to consider several themes, such as how health and safety measures might influence decking; how art can be incorporated into onboard surfaces to impress, educate or provoke thought; how a design based on resin materials can change and interact with its environment; how these materials can contribute to reducing the environmental impact of cruising; and how design and colour can affect those observing it.

Judging the entries are Jon Ingleton, executive editor of Cruise & Ferry Review and Cruise & Ferry Interiors; Dmitriy Ponkratov, technical director at the Royal Institution of Naval Architects; and Nikolai Gyllenhammar and Jonny Aaseth of Broslo (Brødrene Oslo), an artistic duo from Norway who are strong advocates for art as a central part of the cruise ship experience.

“Each member of our multidisciplinary judging panel is a specialist in his respective field – and together, their expertise covers every angle of cruise ship interior design,” says Van Overbeek. “We’re very much looking forward to seeing all the entries come in, and we hope the level of talent on show will give our judges a hard time deciding the winners!”

The panel’s chosen entry in each of the two categories will be transformed from concept into reality and exhibited at the Bolidt Innovation Center close to Rotterdam, where the company showcases its own pioneering solutions. In addition, the winning designers will have the opportunity to pitch their concepts to a cruise operator with support from Bolidt.

Applicants will have until 1 August to submit their designs, in either digital or hand-drawn format, along with a 250-word written description of the concept. The shortlist for both categories will be announced in mid-August, with the winners revealed on 28 September.