Firmship 42 by Studio Job

25 February 2011

Artists Studio Job of Belgium have fitted out the interior of this private boat with teak, Corian and nautical iconography.

Upholstery, furniture details and a stained glass window incorporate seafaring symbols like anchors, ship's wheels, skull-and-crossbones and sea creatures.

The vessel is coated completely in shades of grey with teak doors, furniture and interior fittings plus Corian surfaces in place of the usual plastic found aboard boats.

Called Firmship 42, the boat was originally commissioned by Casper Vissers, founder of the Moooi furniture brand, for his family's own use but there are now plans to collaborate on a 60-foot version under the Firmship brand.

The shell was created by boat designer Willem Nieland.

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Photographs are by R. Kot / D. Cordner.

The following information is from Studio Job, written by Jeroen Junte:

A FLOATING WORK OF ART

The new Firmship 42 is a classic boat with a modern look. With its artistic design, Studio Job has modernised centuries-old nautical traditions – without losing any of today’s functional comfort.

The Firmship is a classic boat of the type that was still being built fifty years ago; an honest boat exuding confidence that will still be admired fifty years from now. What makes the boat even more striking is that literally everything is grey, from the railing and the bollards to the sundeck and even the throttle. Yet the Firmship is anything but drab or boring. Bold, or firm actually: a Firmship.

The boat has been finished with the craftsman’s precision, reinforcing its timelessness. Teak has been used for the doors, the outdoor furniture and the interior finish. The wood used for the cabin’s interior has been finished in such a way that the grain of the individual planks is seamlessly joined. Even the captain’s seat has been custom-made for the Firmship. Comfort is luxurious but not obtrusive; warm, rather, and welcoming.

The boat’s forceful and bold exterior, designed by nautical architect Willem Nieland, contrasts with its refined interior that was designed by Studio Job, the design duo whose artistic ornaments have earned them a worldwide reputation. With great subtlety, icons of our seafaring past have been worked into the interior, but given an unexpected twist.

The sofa is upholstered in prints showing anchors, Moby Dick and a skull and crossbones. A stained glass window between the cabin and the pilothouse displays the same ‘iconography’. At Studio Job, dream and reality become one.

The interior can be added to as desired, with items selected from Studio Job’s custom-made designs – a bronze ship’s bell, for instance, or a marquetry cabinet. Even people who do not normally like boats are attracted to the Firmship. It is more than just a boat: it is a home.

Currently, the Firmship is only available as a 42-foot boat. The next step will be the launch of a Firmship 60. But regardless of length and design, each Firmship is a boat that, though completely grey, also has a stained glass window in the cabin and a helm with a skull and crossbones. It is a boat that radiates both the toughness of the archetypal sailor and the timeless beauty of a sculpture.