A 165-metre-long submarine, a tetrahedron-shaped hydrofoil and a vessel by Zaha Hadid feature in this roundup of yacht designs that have sought to disrupt the high-end boat industry.

There’s nothing more synonymous with the super-rich than a luxury yacht, and with the industry already valued at $9 billion and expected to grow significantly in the coming years, manufacturers are continually seeking ways to make their boats stand out from the crowd.

Sometimes that means designs that seek to have a smaller environmental impact than conventional boats, with some of the examples featured below powered by hydrogen or solar cells.

Otherwise, it means bombastic concepts that break the mould of the standard pleasure yacht, targeting ambitious forms and functions.

Read on for the full list:

Migaloo M5 by Migaloo

Austrian company Migaloo has a vision for the ultra-rich to enjoy private underwater adventures with its recently unveiled design for a 165-metre-long submersible superyacht.

The Migaloo M5 would cost $2 billion and be capable of descending 250 metres below the ocean’s surface for up to four weeks at a time. Its design features a swimming pool, gym, cinema and helipad.

Find out more about the Migaloo M5 ›

Tetra by Jonathan Swinge

Taking its name from its distinctive shape, Tetra is designer Jonathan Schwinge‘s concept for a superyacht that would lift itself above the water while travelling at high speeds using hydrofoil technology.

“The design is instigated by the re-thinking of the form, superstructure and propulsion of the modern superyacht into a radically simple enclosure and an elevated mode of travel above the water line,” said Schwinge.

Find out more about Tetra ›

Orient Express Silenseas by Maxime d’Angeac and Stirling Design International

The Orient Express Silenseas, set to be designed by marine architecture specialist Stirling Design International with interiors by architect Maxime d’Angeac, is intended as a version of the famous luxury train that’s fit for the oceans.

It will be propelled by three gigantic rigid sails and, at 220 metres long, it is expected to become the world’s largest sailing ship according to Accor, which owns the Orient Express brand.

Find out more about the Orient Express Silenseas ›

Domus by Van Geest Design and Rob Doyle Design

The Domus trimaran concept was devised by Van Geest Design and Rob Doyle Design to be “the first truly zero-emission yacht over 750 gross tonnage”.

It would be powered by a combination of hydrogen fuel cells, sailing-generated energy and solar power, with a battery-storage system to keep it running during the nighttime.

Find out more about Domus ›

Arkup 75 by Waterstudio.NL

Inspired by flamingos standing on one leg, this solar-powered electric yacht has retractable stilts that allow it to be raised out of the water to become an off-grid home.

Designed by Dutch architecture studio Waterstudio.NL for yacht company Arkup, the idea is that the boat can be turned into a hurricane-proof building with a total living space of 404 square metres.

Find out more about Arkup 75 ›

Unique Circle Yachts by Zaha Hadid Architects

The late architect Zaha Hadid was tasked with designing five superyachts for German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss.

As a starting point, she created a concept for a 128-metre boat characterised by a distinctive sinuous exoskeleton, which later became the basis for the first yacht in the series – the 90-metre Jazz.

Find out more about Unique Circle Yachts ›

Oneiric by Zaha Hadid Architects and Rossinavi

More recently, Hadid’s architecture studio revealed a concept for a solar-panel-covered yacht developed for Italian shipyard Rossinavi.

The team claimed that on a transatlantic crossing, the 42-metre Oneiric would save approximately 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide compared to a conventional vessel and also be significantly quieter.

Find out more about Oneiric ›

Fibonacci Concerto by Icona Design

With its asymmetric form, Fibonacci Concerto is a concept yacht design modelled on a grand piano.

Developed by automotive-specialist studio Icona Design and presented during Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival, it intends to blur the boundary between the boat’s interior and exterior to grant passengers a new type of seafaring experience.

Find out more about Fibonacci Concerto ›

SeaOrbiter by Jacques Rougerie

A cross between a skyscraper and a boat, the 58-metre-high SeaOrbiter was designed by French architect Jacques Rougerie to facilitate exploring unchartered waters.

Based on more than 30 years of research into marine architecture, the proposed design allows a team of up to 22 researchers to spend 24 hours a day underwater.

Find out more about SeaOrbiter ›

Project Neptune by Aston Martin and Triton

Sports car manufacturer Aston Martin collaborated with submersible maker Triton to create a concept for a three-person luxury submarine with a bubble-like cabin.

“We have used forms and proportions that express the same devotion to design, engineering and beauty that shape our cars, such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar project,” said Aston Martin’s Marek Reichman.

Find out more about Project Neptune ›

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Large wooden beams frame the interiors of L’échappée, a multimedia library in France designed by local practice Atelier WOA as an alternative to “institutional and cold” public buildings.

Occupying a long narrow site in Herblay sur Seine, L’échappée – meaning “escapade” in English – faces a road to the north with a stone and glass facade and opens up to a field to the south with a large wooden colonnade.

To protect the library from the summer sun, Atelier WOA wrapped the top of the building with a white aluminium screen, which is finished with small angular perforations.

‘‘L’échappée, or The Escapade, stands for a place of meetings and exchanges, and a call to culture,” said the studio.

“[It] embodies the simple paradox of a landmark building that seeks to blend into its environment,” it continued.

The library itself occupies the centre of the building, which rises upwards at either end to form a two-storey office block to the east and a stepped auditorium to the west.

According to Atelier WOA, this design acts as “an invitation to enter”.

The library takes the form of a singular large space subdivided by curtains, bookshelves and screens to allow for flexibility.

“The expansive interior volume consists of a completely open plan, providing maximum flexibility and adaptability for future uses,” said the studio.

A series of smaller rooms line the front of the building, while at the back the reading areas open onto a covered walkway, providing sheltered seating areas overlooking a field.

Atelier WOA, which is an acronym for Wood Oriented Design, aims to demonstrate in all of its projects how architects can “build differently” with wood. At L’échappée, the material is complemented with stone in reference to a historic nearby quarry.

“We are involved in the timber construction since the creation of the agency, leading most of our projects with the willingness to demonstrate how we can build differently with wood,” the studio told Dezeen.

This ambition aligns with the French government sustainability law to ensure all new public buildings are built from at least 50 per cent timber or other natural materials.

Based in Paris, Atelier WOA was founded in 2012 by Samuel Poutoux, Rémi Crozat and Marc-Henri Maxit.

Other library projects recently featured on Dezeen include Indian practice Studio Hinge’s renovation of a library in Mumbai and Snøhetta’s Beijing City Library with tree-like columns.

The photography is by ​Salem Mostefaoui.

Project credits: 

Architect: Atelier WOA
Project owner: Herblay sur Seine
Associate architect: Atelier Angel Architecte
Designer: Studio Martial Marquet
Landscape architects: Agence 22°
Structural engineering firm: Barthès Bois
Fluid/thermal engineering firm: Pouget Consultants
Acoustic engineering firm: Résonance
Quantity surveyor: Minerva
Wood construction company: Briand Bois Construction
Massive stone construction company: Philippe d’Art
Concrete structural work company: SNRB

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The British Royal Mint has unveiled a collectable coin featuring singer George Michael that comes in a variety of colours and finishes.

The coin is part of The Royal Mint‘s music legends series, which also includes David Bowie, Elton John and Queen, and shows Michael wearing sunglasses and a jacket with an upturned collar.

It was designed by artist Sandra Deiana and features the colours black and red, which The Royal Mint said the singer used “prominently” throughout his career.

The coin also features a graphic visualisation of the refrain of Michael’s song Faith and the sunglasses he wore in the corresponding music video.

“From the beginning of the project, I was clear about certain elements that I wanted to incorporate into the design,” Deiana said.

“I wanted a detailed portrait that captured his charismatic expression – I was particularly thinking of his iconic sunglasses. It’s amazing to be able to pay tribute to his music and what you see in the design is truly a piece of George Michael’s song.”

While the coin, like all Royal Mint UK coins, is legal tender, it was designed as a collectable coin and retails from £15.50. Its reverse features a picture of King Charles III.

The coin release was approved by Michael’s estate and comes after Michael’s song Last Christmas reached number one in the UK charts in 2023, 39 years after its initial release.

“On behalf of George Michael, we are deeply honoured that the Royal Mint is paying tribute to him by creating a series of beautifully crafted coins,” George Michael Entertainment said.

“He would have been enormously proud and genuinely touched that a national institution should have decided to pay tribute to his memory in this way.”

The limited-edition coin comes in different precious-metal versions as well as a variety of colours.

The Royal Mint has released numerous commemorative coins in the past, including a rainbow 50-pence coin that was launched to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride UK.

In 2022, the mint unveiled the first coins to include an effigy of King Charles III, which the institution described as “the biggest change to Britain’s coinage in decades”.

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Danish architecture firm BIG has designed the 3D graphics that define the identity of this year’s 3 Days of Design festival in Copenhagen under the slogan Dare to Dream.

The theme for this year’s festival, Dare to Dream, aims to explore how good design can serve an emotional function as much as a practical one.

Copenhagen-based BIG – which is better known for its buildings and urban planning projects, alongside a handful of product designs – was tasked with capturing this ethos in its visual identity for the event.

Rendered in the dreamlike style popularised by 3D artists on Instagram, the graphics feature bulbous cloud formations in the shape of furniture.

These float on a sunset-hued gradient that fades from a bright fuchsia hue, which was also used across key design elements such as logos and T-shirts, to a soft peach reminiscent of Pantone’s 2024 Colour of the Year.

“Ask a designer, architect or interior designer, and they’ll tell you that they design more than products, buildings and interiors,” the 3 Days of Design (3DD) organisers explained. “They design dreams.”

The graphic is topped off with the slogan Dare to Dream, written in a bold, dark purple font that diverges from the festival’s traditional sans serif.

“For us, it resonated as inspire and be inspired,” BIG’s lead graphic designer Paula Madrid said in a video about the project. “We see it as pushing the boundaries of imagination.”

“Bjarke and I didn’t want to lose sight of that inner kid that we have because we wanted to stay curious, without having those expectations that become, in the end, boundaries,” she added. “We wanted to push the boundaries and stay ‘foolish’.”

Madrid, who has previously worked on BIG projects including a recent website redesign and founder Bjarke Ingels’ book Formgiving, says the collaboration was born out of a shared sensibility between the two companies.

“We believe that with an array of different perspectives, we can achieve much more than as individuals,” she said. “When we all come together, we become a kind of powerhouse. An ethos we share with 3 Days of Design.”

This year’s 3DD will take place from 12 to 14 of June and is set to be the largest to date, with more than 250 exhibitors hosting events and exhibitions in galleries and showrooms across Copenhagen.

The event has grown dramatically since its first edition in 2013 when it was staged in an old warehouse by four local brands – Montana, Erik Jørgensen, Anker & Co. and Kvadrat.

Highlights from last year’s festival included &Tradition’s takeover of a Copenhagen townhouse, while the annual Ukurant exhibition saw a woodwork factory into a showcase for emerging designers.

3 Days of Design 2024 is taking place in locations across the Danish capital from 12 to 14 June. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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London studio David Kohn Architects has converted an agricultural building on a former dairy farm in Newton Abbot, UK, to create a house and studio named Cowshed.

Cowshed is the last building to be completed in a 15-year-long transformation of Middle Rocombe Farm, which has been owned and inhabited by artist Suzanne Blank Redstone and her husband Peter Redstone since the early 1970s.

The couple has transformed the site into a housing community to achieve their goal of working “in an isolated rural location surrounded by a mix of families”, said David Kohn Architects.

David Kohn Architect’s brief centred on transforming the existing building, which was once a cattle shed, into a future-proof home that honours the building’s site and history.

“They sought a home that would enable them to ‘live in the light and the landscape’, but that would still respect the original humble shed, whilst creating a future-proof accessible home,” project architect Jennifer Dyne told Dezeen.

To achieve this, one of the studio’s main aims for the project was to retain as much of the existing building – which was built by the couple in 1979 – as possible.

“We wanted to ensure that the original cowshed, which was built by Suzanne and Peter in 1979, lost none of its agricultural identity,” said Dyne.

“We didn’t just want to retain the existing building structure, but the character of the original space, and therefore it was almost a conservation-led approach.”

With the help of the engineering studio Structure Workshop, the studio retained the shed’s original timber trusses, concrete floor and columns and some blockwork walls to define new rooms.

Alongside these structural elements, other parts of the original farm to have been reused include old barn doors, a dairy sink and heat lamps once used to raise calves.

“These elements don’t just acknowledge and celebrate the Cowshed’s robust character and past life, but provide a deeper connection for Suzanne and Peter who have so many rich memories of the farm from over half a century,” Dyne explained.

“We weren’t wiping the slate clean, but trying to retain all the marks of former life, whether the original blockwork patina or markings on the concrete columns.”

To ensure any new elements complement the original structure, David Kohn Architects developed “an economical material palette” with local materials typical of agricultural settings. This includes cedar and concrete sourced from nearby.

Meanwhile, any new concrete blockwork has been designed with textures and colours to compliment the original pink-hued blocks that once divided the cowshed.

Inside, Cowshed is primarily single-storey and has a step-free ground floor, aiming to ensure its owners can live there comfortably as they get older.

Blank Redstone’s studio occupies the majority of the existing building’s footprint, flanked by bedrooms, an office and study space. The main living and sleeping spaces are contained within an original lean-to structure that has a low ceiling, helping to create a more intimate interior.

“Suzanne’s studio fills the central hall where the simplicity of the building acts particularly effectively, this light-filled room functions as the fulcrum of the home and as a backdrop for Suzanne’s artwork, which fills the space wherever one looks,” said Dyne.

“Suzanne’s working practice involves being surrounded by her evolving artworks – with seven decades of work on show in the space.”

A focal point of the home is a series of openings of different sizes and shapes that puncture the newly added profiled metal roof.

These refer to Blank Redstone’s collection called Portal Paintings, which imagine walls and openings as gateways into different worlds.

“The Cowshed’s oversized rooflight portals take the form of squares, circles and slots punctured through the roof,” Dyne explained.

“Each one has a different coloured reveal that refracts light into their corresponding spaces – an orange-hued dressing room, a golden glow to the staircase, or the red oxide circle echoing the structural steel in the central studio.”

Another stand-out detail of the interior is a half-moon window in the kitchen, designed to emphasise the bowled landscape framed through it.

Cowshed is complete with a large sheltered terrace to the entrance, with an outdoor workshop and studio to one side.

David Kohn Architects is a London studio that was founded by architect David Kohn in 2007. Its design for Cowshed was shortlisted for this year’s RIBA House of the Year after the studio won the prize in 2022 for an “ordinary yet quirky” home it created in Dorset.

Its other projects include the Sanderson House extension that is intended to resemble a fox in the garden and the conversion of a listed residential interior in Berlin into an office.

The photography is by Max Creasy.

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