Admiral’s Life Saga was one of the newest deliveries in Monaco for the yacht show this year. Anchored out in the bay, the 1,150-GT yacht was easily recognisable by the break in her bulwarks amidships and double-height windows. Having written a story for the July/August issue of The SuperYacht Times when the project was still in build, I went aboard the finished yacht with the British designer Mark Berryman who talked me through the interior concept. 
“The owner has a real fascination with leather car interiors and we’ve used leather panelling extensively throughout the yacht, some specially treated for outside use. The automotive theme also provided inspiration for the stitching details and the perforated leather used for the handrail of the main staircase.
“Balancing the natural woods and leathers, the harder interior element, if you like, is the stone. We use travertine a lot because it works so well with our warm colour schemes, but there’s also sunset onyx and emperador marble in places on board.
“I’ve always been drawn to Japanese design, which I find so tranquil, and one of the themes that runs through the yacht is the Japanese-style circular motif with horizontal and vertical battens. The circle is important in Japanese symbolism and architecture, but here it breaks up the straight lines. The owner specifically asked for elements that are repeated throughout that you may not notice at first, but if you do they provide a little more pleasure and appreciation.
“Something else the owner wanted was multi-functional, transformable spaces. This wasn’t always easy to implement as we were brought into the project quite late, but we were able to do something with the loose furniture. So in the cinema lounge on the main deck, for example, you have a large sofa that can be used for watching a movie on the 75” screen, or because the seating is split in the middle with two pivot points, it can transform into facing sofas to create a conversation area.
“There are also various bespoke pieces of furniture like the low wood table in the owner’s lounge that opens up to reveal a baize-lined drinks cabinet, or the capstan table that ingeniously rotates and doubles in size. The owner loves multi-purpose things that also have a theatrical element.
