At the Red Dot Design Awarding Ceremony 2019 in Singapore, Ameco's and Lufthansa Technik's jointly developed narrow-body VIP aircraft cabin 'Nature's Touch' has been honored with a prestigious Red Dot award in the category "Design Concept". 'Nature's Touch' is a business jet cabin interior concept that combines the cultures of East and West by using traditional Chinese elements and smart technology to create a convenient and comfortable travel experience.

The unique cabin concept brings a brand-new business travel experience to customers for the interior of the Airbus ACJ320neo business jet, which features a live-cooking aircraft galley, guest area, lounge, dining/meeting area, cinema, and master bedroom. The design explores the harmonious beauty in the symbiosis of nature and technology. Due to its flexibility the concept anticipates the adaption to a Boeing 737 BBJ configuration as well.

Feng Bin, Ameco's Deputy General Manager of Beijing Base & Leading Head of Aircraft Cabin Solutions Product Business Unit, said: " 'Nature's Touch' is a deepening cooperation between Ameco and Lufthansa Technik in the cabin interior concept design, which combines Chinese cultural elements with Western intelligent technology. At the same time, the success of the 'Nature's Touch' also reflects the cooperation advantages of the two companies. We will strive to bring more unique designs to the business jet aviation market and enhance the cabin experience for our customers."

Jan Grube, Head of Asia Sales for VIP & Special Mission aircraft at Lufthansa Technik, added: "We are grateful for having had the chance to jointly develop this project with our partner Ameco. Such cooperation shows the synergies of our both company's strengths. This new design as such as well as the innovative features is separating it from similar concepts and the fact that we won the Red Dot Award shows its excellent reception in the market."

The cabin's interiors blend Confucianism with Modernism philosophy. Bamboo knuckles, leaves and woven artefacts are used as recurring motifs alongside traditional Chinese colors such as cream, moonlight beige, bamboo green, jade and crimson. Natural materials such as marble, genuine leather, wool and silk, complement textiles -- which have subtle stripes simulating bamboo wood grain -- are also used to embrace the eco-friendly trend, thereby adding warmth, depth and visual interest to the interiors.

Smart technology and digital interfaces -- such as passenger system control units, wireless charging, intelligent cabin signs, smart touch-screen desktops, smart window shade glass and ambient lights -- are incorporated in an unobtrusive and natural way to create a convenient and comfortable flight experience that seamlessly blends in with the cabin décor. In the lounge, a convertible sofa and coffee table, and bar with transformable dividers allow a variety of entertainment options.

The flexible dining/meeting area also offers several scene modes that can be adjusted depending on the situation, facilitating a comfortable and natural atmosphere. For business trips, the cabin displays, connected to news networks via cloud services, show the latest market data or news updates. In a leisure or entertainment scenario, the cabin displays connect to music and entertainment servers to broadcast visualisations that match the mood.

In addition, the cabin lighting and ambience can be programmed to suit a range of scenarios. The jet's cinema is fitted with today's largest roll-up screen -- a 75-inch ultra-bright 4K display -- and incorporates ambient lighting and an all-new louvered ceiling concept.

About the Red Dot award

Red Dot stands for belonging to the best in design and business. The international design competition, the "Red Dot Design Award", is aimed at all those who would like to distinguish their business activities through design. The distinction is based on the principle of selection and presentation. Excellent design is selected by competent expert juries in the areas of product design, communication design, and design concepts.

In order to appraise the diversity in the field of design in a professional manner, the award breaks down into three disciplines: the Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. Each competition is organised once every year.

The products, communication projects as well as design concepts and prototypes entered in the competition are evaluated by the Red Dot Jury, which convenes once a year for each competition based on the individual specialist areas of the members.

Contributed by Lufthansa Technik AG