Designer Paul Priestman has aimed to tackle overcrowding in popular tourist destinations with Viewpoint, a concept for a sightseeing boat where everyone is guaranteed a good view.
Created with his new studio PULI Innovation, which Priestman set up after leaving PriestmanGoode in 2022, Viewpoint features tiered seating similar to an amphitheatre but inverted so that the audience faces outwards rather than in.
Priestman sees the concept vessel operating in cities such as Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong or Sydney – harbour- or riverside cities where the number of tourists creates congestion around landmarks.
Viewpoint would displace a share of these visitors from the streets and footpaths onto the water.
At the same time, it would offer tourists a better experience than current sightseeing boats, which use flat-decked designs that only offer unobstructed views to a lucky few.
"These boats aren't designed for people to see out from," said Priestman. "They're old ferries. They're on a single deck. So one person stands on the outside of the ship and no one can see anything from behind them."
He points to the endless stream of boats carrying athletes during the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony as an example.
"I thought, this image here is just a classic example of the problem because I just don't think they're designed correctly as sightseeing ships," he said.
By contrast, Viewpoint would give all its 500 or so passengers access to tiered seating. Priestman imagines guests enjoying day-long or half-day tours in this way, with various dining offerings to enhance their time onboard.
The seating arrangement resembles an inverted amphitheatre
The offerings could range from the informal – delicatessen picnic baskets or to-go meals – on the bottom deck to VIP dining rooms or lounge bars on the top.
Priestman considers the boat "a destination" in itself and "almost like a piece of architecture".
"People can spend an afternoon or a day on board and have a picnic and enjoy," he said. "It's a bit like being in the park rather than being sort of squeezed into places where you can't stay and you can't linger."
PULI Innovation has also considered accessibility in its design, with a glass lift cutting through all the decks and a sloped walkway linking decks one and two. The boats would be hydrogen-powered.
Priestman said that flat-decked sightseeing boats had survived for so long because there was usually little scope to innovate on client projects within the sector.
"One of the reasons that I've always done self-initiated projects is because you do have an opportunity to push it further than perhaps a client would ask for," he said. "I don't think a river cruise company would come and say: 'could you try and invent something new for us?'"
"It doesn't really happen like that, or very rarely. So sometimes you have to just do something and get it out there."
He hopes tourism operators or local governments will take an interest in the Viewpoint concept and work with the studio to manufacture it.
Priestman founded PULI Innovation soon after his departure from PriestmanGoode in early 2022. The new venture is more future-focused, according to Priestman, and instead of being based in London is based in Shanghai and orientated towards the countries of the Pacific Rim.
He said he loved working in China "because things happen so much more quickly" and that his younger employees referred to Europe as "the old world".
"I do think this is becoming the centre of creativity and innovation," said Priestman.
Priestman is primarily known for his transport projects, which have seen him work on the London Tube, Airbus aircraft and the Hyperloop.