A Custom-Made Superyacht That's Designed Like a Luxe Penthouse

Elizabeth Stamp

Yacht design and over-the-top luxury have always gone hand in hand, but one company has decided that it’s time to take a new course. Italian firm Benetti has teamed with New York–based Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture on the Oasis 135’, which features a more livable, contemporary design. “For about three decades, style and design in the yachting industry did not experience a significant amount of changes,” says Giovanna Vitelli, owner of Azimut Benetti Group. “Luxury was mainly represented by an overabundant opulence, entailing decorations in super-precious materials, such as onyx, rare marbles, and gold leaf.” For the Oasis 135’, the architects chose a refined mix of materials, including white lacquer and rosewood. “We tried to pare down the number of materials and contrast things that feel very natural with things that are highly polished,” says architect Dominic Kozerski.

A rendered look at the sleekly designed salon of the Oasis 135’.
A rendered look at the sleekly designed salon of the Oasis 135’.

The firm also focused on creating a flow between the interior and exterior. “To encourage the idea of inside-outside living, we tried to make an informal plan with a very good flow of space,” says Kozerski, who notes that they approached the boat the same way they approach the design of a beach house. “The scale of this boat is perfect for it to be parked either in port or ideally somewhere offshore, where you have your offshore beach house.” The interior’s color palette takes cues from the white fiberglass exterior, and the teak deck flooring continues inside, slightly changing the pattern. This visual connection between inside and out helps the interior feel larger. "If you’ve seen boats recently, there’s nothing simple about them,” says architect Enrico Bonetti. “They’re overly complicated. What we tried to do was make it more refined but simple. We saw a lot of boats that were a little hard inside and we were trying to do the opposite.”

The designers worked to ensure every detail had an extremely polished feel.
The designers worked to ensure every detail had an extremely polished feel.

The Oasis 135' is Bonetti and Kozerski’s first yacht design, but because the firm handles a variety of different projects from residential to retail, they were able to quickly adapt to the new demands. “It was a more intense planning process, but we used the same principals that we apply to any residences that we do,” says Kozerski. They also provided a fresh outlook that challenged Benetti to take different approaches to construction.“Some of our solutions were not what the boat industry usually does, so we worked quite closely with the engineering team to avoid some of the typical things you see such as bulkheads with ductwork and particular ceiling configurations," Kozerski adds.

A look inside the master bedroom of the Oasis 135'.
A look inside the master bedroom of the Oasis 135'.

One of the major challenges was not having a definitive geographic location. “When we design a building, the building has a precise location,” says Bonetti. “Even if we are designing a condominium where there could be a lot of different people moving into the apartment, at least we are designing for a specific location, so we have a reference of where it fits. With a boat you don’t have that reference. It’s such a broad canvas.” Working closely with Benetti to imagine the potential client, the architects have devised a vessel that stands out in a sea of ultraluxe yachts.