Design: Working up the wow with White Coral

The Mulder Design team have unveiled more detail of their sublime 115-metre concept White Coral. Combining modern aesthetics and design sensibilities with a fundamentally timeless style, the project – named for the white-coloured gem produced by deep ocean marine creatures call coral polyps – is not just a statement of style but a statement of intent. While the Mulder studio’s extensive portfolio has typically focused on the naval architecture, interior and exterior design of yachts up to 60 metres, the team also has a flair for the concept and exterior design of much larger projects.

Emanating from some concept sketches first presented at the Monaco Yacht Show, White Coral shows the natural evolution of design developed with the interest of a keen client and the imagination of a studio renowned for its naval architecture and design acumen. “We decided to really show what we can do, and chose 115 metres – a different league not only for the features a yacht can include, but also the beautiful complexity that her exterior design can convey,” asserts Bas Mulder, owner at Mulder Design. “We wanted to show that far from being just technical designers, we can offer our skills and experience of creating stunning exterior designs at any size of yacht that consider interior demands and thereby perfectly fuse function and form.”

Of course, White Coral boasts everything you would expect of a serious, and seriously large, superyacht – there’s a foredeck helipad with under-deck heli hangar, designed with technical know-how to be feasible to build and certify. Below a large main deck pool there’s an expansive 18-metre by 8-metre beach club aft complete with opening hull doors to create vast terraces on the sea, another must-have; and there’s a serene, relaxing exterior and interior style that reflects the essence of white coral, which is well known as a gemstone in vedic astrology and which is worn for financial success, mental peace, strong willpower and healthy progeny.

White Coral’s exquisite profile boasts a powerful forward-leaning stance and sleek yet sumptuous, sculpted profile details, with the rising sweep of the profile’s aft style line joining each deck aft and creating a complex interplay of geometric shapes. “At Mulder Design, there’s a core ethos we apply to everything we do,” Mulder asserts, “which is to create a long-lasting, timeless design rather than something that can be identified by a particular era or fashion. The key for us is always to have long, elegant and simple lines, then enhance them without adding too many fussy details which most of the time merely distract the eye. People,” he adds, “like classic proportions, and they have certain expectations. Our exterior designs aim to meet those classic proportions, then exceed those expectations.

“I always try to bring it back to balance,” Mulder continues, “and once you have the flow of the hull and superstructure you can start adding more detail, such as smaller shapes or key motifs and style elements, sharp angles or rounded features – that way you can more easily adapt to any client’s individual taste while ensuring the overall design is at its core harmonious.”

There are also details featuring in White Coral’s design that carry the DNA of the Mulder studio’s extensive portfolio. “Her vertical mast shape on is actually an element we’ve carried for over a quarter of a century or more,” Mulder quips, “and the same could be said for the reverse fashion plates, which are definitely a Mulder style feature!”

It's not just about aesthetics, however – the practicality of a design is always foremost in the Mulder studio team’s mind. “With even the largest exterior design assignments, we can not only tap into our history creating some of the most famous yachts of all time, but also draw on our engineering knowledge and expertise,” Mulder enthuses. “This is a critical advantage for us, because the basis for any design should always be to consider whether it is technically feasible. We start with the core calculations, and from there we develop beautiful and complex designs that we know are not only stunning but which can also be built.”

People know Mulder Design well for being able to provide the full suite of services from naval architecture to general arrangements, but White Coral demonstrates yet another facet of the studio’s extensive capabilities. “We also specialise in creating stunning exterior designs for larger superyachts,” Mulder asserts, “for which the naval architecture and engineering will be completed elsewhere but for which our holistic understanding of those elements ensures a project which is not only aesthetically stunning but also firmly rooted in reality. That,” he concludes, “is the Mulder way.”