Lawson Robb have been shortlisted in The International Yacht & Aviation Awards. Read more about Creative Lead, George Wolstenholme, below:

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Name: George Wolstenholme

Company: Lawson Robb

Position within company: Creative Lead

Website: www.lawsonrobb.com

Tell us a little about your background in design:
I have a degree in Yacht Design from Coventry University and previous work experience at Winch Design & Nuvolari Lenard Design Studios. Professionally I have worked on the interiors for a 120m Superyacht, Haze, and lead the interior Design for Project Phi with Royal Huisman, completed hospitality schemes in London & Monaco, and worked on super-Prime residential interiors globally from London to New York, to Dubai & Saudi Arabia.

How would you describe your personal design style?
My personal design style generally takes on two forms. The first of which is blending traditional design with clean and playful contemporary detailing. The second fully embraces the modern world and works towards pushing more futuristic design schemes.

I have a real love for heritage so where appropriate I love to blend traditional aspects with clean, playful & contemporary detailing. In schemes calling for a contemporary/ futuristic scheme my appreciation of heritage translates to ensuring there is a strong foundational concept to tie a more contemporary scheme together.

Where does your design inspiration come from?
My love for heritage stems from growing up in a family run traditional hotel in the North of England where I would spend lots of time as a child with my Grandfather travelling around sourcing and restoring various antique pieces of furniture, objects of curiosity and architectural details from chimney pieces to sanitaryware. The more futuristic side comes from automotive design, having spent the first year of my degree studying automotive design and the balance of it surrounded by automotive designers, so when more futuristic design is required, automotive surfacing is always a reference point for me. For the rest, it is just an obsession with any products of the utmost quality and luxury.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?
I feel design is just going to get more and more exciting, with products and designs we have been seeing in futuristic cinema for the past 10 years or so now actually beginning to materialise in every day life, pushing this and riding this wave will be a really great challenge. The interesting thing will be fusing this with the fact that luxury to our clients these days seems to be essentialism as opposed to excess.

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in 2020 and beyond.

• Essentialism
• Integration
• Sustainability
• Developing personas
• Just because it works, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t need fixing

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to design schemes, what would it be?
Its all about the client. Cultivating relationships where an end-users lifestyle and ethos align totally with the design process ensures that any and all of the pushed boundaries strike exactly the right note and that the resulting solutions could not be a better compliment to the project. So get as detailed a design brief as you can, learn it, then create a scheme that can deliver the above.

What was your favourite project to work on and why?
The upcoming Project Phi – It’s a game changer

What was your most challenging project to work on and why?
The upcoming project Phi – The client wanted a story, beyond the pale of the ordinary, the theory became so intricate so adjusting to live and breathe it and then to translate this theory into the geometry and details of the designs was one of the most challenging tasks of my professional career and will for sure be one of the most rewarding.

Which products/services could you not live without when designing?
A biro for concepts and autocad/3d software for proportion.

How important are The International Yacht & Aviation Awards?
Hugely. Not only for the accreditation of the design teams and the projects they have entered, but for those design teams to also celebrate the designs of their contemporaries. Its also equally important for clients, both to see projects that they have worked so hard to bring to life, but also for prospective clients to see the level of design that they can and should expect.

What projects are you currently working on?
Project Phi, A Townhouse in Little Venice, A hotel in Monaco & a residential development in Palma.

What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?
To build Lawson Robbs brand as a go to and a safe pair of hands for any and all Ultra-Prime design projects. To win our third yacht design contract.

Final thoughts; tell us a little more about yourself and your daily inspirations:
There are two areas of change I’m particularly keen to address. The first is the changing landscape of the term ‘luxury.’ There are so many facets of this now, whether an end-users idea of luxury is simplicity and more closely related to core values, or whether this takes on a more extravagant form, it is vital that these are understood to enable us to push forward and create projects or products for clients that only ever exceed their expectations. The second is that of collaboration. ‘Value added’ cannot be the result of one individual, it must be added through the coming together of a myriad of creative heads, clients, experts and artisans to come to the absolute best final result.

As far as daily inspirations go I love to feed from different creative industries, I like to steer away slightly from seeking inspirations from other designers as I feel originality can be lost, but by drawing inspirations from concepts and ideals from creatives in industries such as film makers, writers etc I feel you can bear new and original concepts that speak from an ethos and values as opposed designs stemming from visual inspirations.

Your most treasured possession?
Jaeger le-coultre Reverso watch – a watch that reminds me of my childhood, I saved for 5 years and brought it for myself in St Marks Square in Venice for my 21st birthday when I was on a years placement with Nuvolari Lenard. The watch marks probably the most important experience of my life.

Your favourite holiday destination?
The ski slopes!

Your favourite hotel, restaurant & bar?
Post Ranch Inn – Big Sur
El Chiringuito – Ibiza
The Cigar Terrace at The Wellesely

Your favourite book, film & song?
Shoedog
Gone in 60 Seconds
Let The Rhythm Just – The Polish Ambassador

Your favourite food and drink?
Good day – Lobster Linguini
Bad Day – Burger & Fries

Your favourite way to spend an afternoon?
Anywhere with closest family and friends

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
Hotelier

Anything else interesting?
Amateur Motorcycle Enduro rider

Lawson Robb have been shortlisted in The International Yacht & Aviation Awards.

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