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SEPTEMBER 2008
Pleasure trip
Making the journey more attractive
Railway Interiors Expo show preview
All routes lead to Amsterdam
The rise of the double decker
Different approaches in Europe and America
xxxx
cover story
by Jon Lawson
10 11 Railway Interiors International SEPTEMBER 2008 SEPTEMBER 2008 Railway Interiors International
Get ready for Amsterdam,
the preview is on page 24
Creating any new train is
a challenge, but when that
train needs to traverse the
highest route in the world,
there are also vital safety
elements to consider
he Tangula Express is a new, high-end
service that will start running on the
4,000km Beijing to Lhasa and Beijing
to Lijiang routes in 2009. The operators plan
is that on their ve-day/four-night journey, the
Tangula Expresss 96 passengers will be carried
in 48 luxury suites with queen-size bed, en-suite
bathroom, broadband internet, atscreen TV and
DVD player, and can enjoy 24-hour butler service
and on-board guides, and have a choice of two
dining cars in the middle of the train.
To meet the level of luxury expected, the
Tangula Express will feature custom-designed
interiors created by New York design company
Elskop Scholz. One of the founders of the
Tangula project approached Ins Elskop, who
he had originally met at architecture school, in
October 2006. The initial brief was ambitious:
Our clients dreamed of building a new train with
all the amenities of a 6-star hospitality property,
explains Elskop. Put simply, they wanted to build
the most magnicent train in the world.
This would be a purpose-built train, not a
retrot of existing rolling stock. Although the
design is inspired by the sense of luxury of the
great trains, it is not supposed to be historical or
sentimental. The underlying inspiration is modern,
forward-looking, and representative of the new
China. Elskop Scholz chose to see the design as
a luxury hospitality project in a train format.
The company began with extensive research
on China in various cultural elds, drawing
inspiration from architecture and design and
from history and art. The project had a very tight
timeline from the start.
T
INSET:
The brief was
to make the most
magnificent train
in the world
Cover story Cover story
12 13 Railway Interiors International SEPTEMBER 2008 SEPTEMBER 2008 Railway Interiors International
ABOVE AND RIGHT:
Design inspiration
comes from
luxury hotels
We decided to use many different modes
of representation to communicate our ideas to
all the parties involved, says Christopher Scholz.
For the concept design we used a computer,
hand sketching and preliminary material boards,
as well as image boards to help organise our
ideas. Each of these methods fed back on each
other in various iterations and we constantly
re-evaluated, so some ideas fell by the wayside,
and others were used in the nal design.
While this was happening, the company was
digesting the complex technical requirements
of the design. A large-scale and dimensionally
accurate exchange of documents began
with manufacturer Bombardier Sifang Power
Transportation Ltd (BSP). Scholz explains, This
combination would help us grow
from concept to design development
knowing that we were on the right
track for manufacture. As we are
architects, we used architectural
language to convey the spatial
planning moves.
As is often the case in rail design projects of
this size, the clients and the builder requested
regular 3D renderings to ensure that all parties
were happy that the project was going in the
right direction. However, unusually, Elskop Scholz
decided to go the extra mile: We felt that the
3D views would not capture the entirety of the
spaces, so we elaborated a system of rendered
plans and elevations, taking our line drawings
and rendering them in Photoshop with colour
and textures similar to the intended nal design,
notes Elskop. These became working
We decided to use
many different
modes of
representation to
communicate our
ideas to all the
parties involved
LIGHTING-UP TIME
Elskop Scholz invited specialist Dr Linnaea Tillett and her team at Tillett Lighting
Design Inc to join the project. The challenge was to come up with a design that
transformed the environment from the purely utilitarian to something authentically
and appropriately luxurious, says Tillett. Were not covering up the reality that
a train is an industrial machine, but softening that reality to comfort and indulge
its passengers.
As common functional lighting fxtures typically used on trains were not suitable for
a luxury environment, even the 26 non-decorative fxtures had to be custom-designed.
These include downlights, art lighting, and shower, walkway and reading lights.
LEDs were chosen for their small size, long life and colour-changing capacities.
Tillett says, Unlike incandescent sources, which have a rich quality of light due to their
various lengths of light waves, LED sources only emit one length of light wave. To get
around this, the designers reshaped the quality of the light.
It was a new way of looking at how warmth and complexity are created, adds
Tillett. We surrounded the LED sources in luxurious materials and rich diffusers. The
idea was to affect a kind of magic and transform the experience of a 21st-century light
source into the timeless appeal of candlelight and incandescent glows.
The lighting fxtures in the suite cars, corridors and scenic lounge all feature an
elegant natural surface of mica. These thin slices of stone give texture, and as the sun
passes during the day, the mica transforms unobtrusively. At night, these fxtures
become luminous.
The nickel sconces next to the windows are inspired by old train lanterns. Their
mirror-like surfaces are designed to refect the passing landscape during the day, and
when the sun goes down, the sconce interior is illuminated by tiny diffused LEDs that
mimic candle light.
documents that allowed us to ne-tune materials and surfaces as details
were developed and rened. At the same time, we commissioned or built
numerous models or mock-ups that we took to China to reinforce the visual
concept and communicate the desired nish level, including a wall extrusion
system, wood nishes and sculptural metal pieces.
The mock-up phase was also used in a slightly different way than is usual
in train production. Elskop Scholz advocated the concept of a working mock-
up, one that was a live tool to work out complex relationships and material
junctures as well as spatial concepts, rather than as a nished representation
of the design for corroboration. The overall envelope was mocked up with
nished materials, into which the various furniture or cabinet elements were
inserted after they had been worked on individually.
There were also many individual mock-ups of separate elements that
served to resolve any issues. The seating, a particularly sensitive element,
and the complicated window shading system underwent extensive
prototyping. The bathroom/dressing room module was modied many times
to develop size and exact relationships best suited to comfort and aesthetics.
Although there were many mock-ups, they were treated more as a laboratory
rather than a nished model for emulation.
While Elskop Scholz continued to rene the interior design of the train,
the manufacturer was producing a great number of production drawings.
This process highlighted areas that still needed work. The resulting
questions were answered either with sketch drawings, by email, or in intense
design charettes conducted at the factory in China. The builders documents,
however, constituted the denitive version of the project and were the basis
on which the train was constructed.
BROUGHT TO BOOK
To help get the design message across
and ensure all parties were fully
informed about progress, Elskop Scholz
took the unusual step of publishing
four books, which were distributed to
the client, the manufacturer and the
Chinese government. The frst in the
series was a leather-bound presentation
affair with a print run of just three.
These books became a very useful
resource for us, says Elskop. As we
updated the design, we used internet-
based publishing resources to print the
books, knowing that they could also
be used for marketing purposes before
any mock-ups were produced. It kept
the government in the loop regarding
our plans, and helped us to organise the
complex project in our own minds.
We considered the manufacturer an integral
partner and collaborator rather than simply
the implementer of the design in helping to
bring this complex project to fruition, says
Scholz. We understand that it is customary in
typical train-design workow for the designer to
complete the design phase and then hand it over
to the manufacturer for production. Given the
compressed timescale, the nish requirements
of the project, and the physical and cultural
distances to be bridged, such a conventional
sequence was not possible.
We considered it important to have a
constant dialogue with the manufacturer, he
adds, so that we could explain our intent and
explore detailing and feasibility during the design
phase and through documentation.
Jumping the language barrier
To successfully work together, the Elskop Scholz
team and the client had to communicate freely
without relying purely on a common language.
Elskop says, The solution was to nd ways to
bridge communication between two different
cultures at both spoken language level and in
design language. We spent time getting to know
each other and found methods that enhanced
our communication. At rst we worked with a
translator but after a few sessions decided to
forego third-party interpretation, instead we tried
out our common visual language in drawings.
This system proved to be a great success,
resulting in very exciting design sessions.
The team felt the Tangula design was too
complex to be designed in a traditional sequential
and linear way, so a more parallel and integrated
method of work was adopted. An engineer
designer working in isolation on his or her portion
of the train shared information with colleagues
working on related parts. In this way, concept,
design and detail could be simultaneously
explored, producing integrated solutions
across disciplines.
We could not follow our usual architectural
sequence of design, renement, documentation
and production, notes Scholz. Different
timelines were at odds with one another, and
we had to accept the locking in of certain
designs at less than ideal moments. Rather than
working with the usual linear sequence, we had
to conceptualise and design in parallel without
losing track of the design vision. This meant
deciding on key elements early in the schedule to
anchor the whole, while sometimes being forced
to withhold nal resolution of certain elements
later than might have been optimal.
Flexible trend
There has been much discussion about exible
interiors in the industry, and the Tangula Express
is no different. One of its distinguishing features
is that it offers a luxury environment with exibility
catering to different hospitality travel preferences,
such as large groups, weddings, corporate events
and business meetings, as well as customised
sleeping arrangements. For instance, the dining
car needed to seat 24 people for dinner as well
as open up for a cocktail party or meeting. Our
challenge was to offer these options within a very
limited envelope, says Elskop. We designed
custom tables and beds that change
function seamlessly through complex
mechanical solutions. The dining
tables are capable of folding fat to the
wall for special occasions. The bed
can be a lounge seat, a single bed, or
half of a double bed as the occasion
may require.
RIGHT Huge efforts
went into getting the
lighting just right in the
dining areas
Railway Interiors International SEPTEMBER 2008
Cover story
14
Moving parts, though unavoidable, were
downplayed in favour of giving a feeling of solidity,
stability and comfort. We wanted to emphasise
familiarity with the object rather than technological
prowess, she continues. We didnt want a
contraption that met all these requirements, but
rather a piece of furniture that looked familiar, but
magically acquired different uses. A lot of our
most challenging work is now in fact invisible!
Material gain
Materials were sourced from various locations.
Some speciality items came from the USA,
but most were sourced in China. Stone,
personally selected by Elskop Scholz, was cut
to specication and sourced from Shenzen
and Guangzhou. Wood veneers came from a
Shanghai distributor and were all custom-laid, and
wool carpet was sourced and custom-coloured in
China. Metal work is mostly from China, stainless-
steel metal mesh was produced for walls, and
hardware elements were custom-plated in nickel.
The aesthetic of the design and the travellers
experience involved balancing contrasts. Colours
are an important part of the design but are not
considered in an arbitrary manner or in isolation,
rather in concert with materials and textures. The
suites are designed to be private and calm, quiet
and meditative, and the corridors and dining/
scenic cars are more vibrant, with greater contrast
to encourage people to mix. The interiors are
more than a feast for the eye. They are also
an invitation to touch, a stimulation for all the
senses, providing a variety of experiences during
a ve-day stay, Scholz observes. Materials and
surfaces were selected in contrasting pairs: soft/
hard, vibrant/calm, lustrous/opaque.
One unusual aspect of the interior is the
oxygen enrichment system, which is necessary
to prevent guests suffering from altitude sickness
as the train traverses the Himalayas at over
16,500ft (5,000m) above sea level. The railcars
are not hermetically sealed and pressurised,
but there are no opening windows and the
on-board climate is carefully controlled. The
enrichment system uses well-proven
Chinese technology, says Scholz.
It works by removing the nitrogen
from the ambient air, to increase the
oxygen percentage inside. In addition
to this, there are masks in all the
suites and public areas, just in case a
passenger needs more oxygen.
In keeping with the 6-star status of the rest of
the train, the communications technology and
web access is planned to be among the best.
Although no nal decisions have been made,
Scholz is able to conrm that it will be a satellite-
based system. We are going to offer on-board
internet access, television access and automated
billing and process management. All the staff will
be equipped with PDA-type WiFi units to take
orders and monitor the inventory. In time, full
telephony will also be available.
The Tangula Express could take luxury train
travel to the next level. It will open up previously
remote areas to tourism, and it is hoped that it will
convince people that air travel is not the only
option for long journeys across China.
A lot of our most
challenging work
is now in fact
invisible!
RIGHT The mix of
textures is evident
Cover story
Railway Interiors International SEPTEMBER 2008
16