Plane sailing

Ceri Rocca, a leading designer of aircraft interiors, talks to CID about working in what is still a niche segment of the industry.

As one of the UK's foremost designers and stylists of aircraft interiors, Ceri Rocca is well versed in the language of luxury. She recalls one of her most lavish designs, for the Middle Eastern owner of a private Boeing 747, who requested an extensive bathroom come vanity area, complete with gold basins.

More recently, Rocca has been working on concepts for a client who wants to be transported on and off his plane via a private elevator.

Founder of the UK-based design consultancy, Style House, Rocca has spent the last six years focusing on transport interiors, after teaming up with specialist transport sector design consultancy, Design Q. In this time, she has worked on both private and commercial carriers, and was involved in a redesign of the Cathay Pacific fleet.

Rocca has also designed for a range of other commercial segments, from Middle Eastern palaces and quintessential English country homes to hotels, offices and retail outlets. Her retail portfolio includes brands such as Reebok and Nestle, and her career path even brought her to Dubai in the early 1990s. Commercial Interior Design sat down with Rocca to find out more.

What drew you to design as a career?

It was actually interested in interior design from a very young age. I was still at school when one of my teachers suggested that I went into interior design. He arranged for me to do some work experience with a friend of his that was an interior designer and it really just went from there.

How did you become involved with aircraft interiors?

That was more recently. I had moved back from Dubai and opened my business here, and I met someone who was involved in refurbishing private aircraft. He knew about my Middle East work and asked me about that and whether I would be interested in designing new aircraft because they were trying to expand their business so that they weren't just doing refurbishments, but were doing new builds as well.

What kind of aircraft projects have you worked on?

It's mostly private aircraft, ranging from 747s to small Globals. We have also worked with Cathay Pacific on their new image and fleet. That was about two years ago, I would say. That was the first commercial airline that we were involved with.

How are aircraft interiors evolving?

There's a big move to try and reduce the weight because obviously there are cost implications with regards to fuel. The lighter that you can make an aircraft, the better, basically. So, there's a big move with that to use lighter fabrics on all of the seats and to try and design seats with lighter materials, which has huge implications on the fuel costs.

There have also been moves - Virgin has done it - to include public spaces within long-haul aircraft. It's a funny one because it's great from a social point of view, if you are on a long-haul flight and there is this space where you can have a bit of a wander and a bit of interaction.

But obviously that does take up space that would otherwise be ‘bums on seats'. It is cost again - it's quite expensive to have a public area within the aircraft and to lose all of that seating. It's an interesting debate.

Do you get called in to design the entire configuration of the aircraft or is it mainly furnishings and fittings?

It can go both ways. Sometimes we might be asked to do a concept, or we'll be asked to create a different layout. You get opportunities to do both.

Other times, you'll get a client who says: ‘We want x amount of seats and they have to have a 31-inch pitch and so on'. It really just depends.

When it comes to private aircraft, are there any noticeable trends?

It is very individual, I would say. It tends to be down to what the individual actually wants. There aren't any particular trends that anyone is following.

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