Bannenberg Designs announces studio rebrand

In a step to usher in a new era at Bannenberg Design, Dickie Bannenberg has announced that the studio will be rebranding itself as Bannenberg & Rowell Design in a move to reflect the contributions of Creative Director Simon Rowell.

In a statement released by the studio, Dickie Bannenberg says ‘I wanted to reflect the huge role Simon plays in the studio. It is also an opportunity, with five launches this year, to consolidate where we are as a company, pull together various elements of our identity which have grown a little organically over the years and, I hope, show where the momentum lies in the world of yacht design. It is the next stage in a journey started by my father in the early 1960’s.”

Bannenberg Design was founded by the late Jon Bannenberg in the beginning years of the 60’s and produced a distinctive style that changed the face of yacht design and could only be described as purely Bannenberg.

Born in Australia, Bannenberg moved to London in 1952 and pursued several different careers before designing interiors for the QEII in the early 60’s, which lead to his first full yacht design for Amels’ Lady Ghislaine, later renamed Lady Mona K.

Boasting ground-breaking features such as an upper deck gymnasium that could open to the elements as well as an overall use of symmetry and asymmetry to create the feeling of space, Bannenberg injected the concept of ‘style’ into the conservative post-WWII shipbuilding industry.

Provoking a ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ sentiment from his audience, Bannenberg’s distinctive design ‘signature’ was immediately recognizable, though none of his vessels were ever alike, with the exception of sisterships.

Notable designs from Bannenberg/Bannenberg & Rowell include the 37m Never Say Never, 138m Rising Sun and 67m Siran while recent projects include Feadship’s groundbreaking Predator and Baglietto’s Natori.