www.ctm-design.co.uk  

Aircraft Interior Design of Business Aviation Interiors. 

Designer Robin Dunlop, founder of UK’s CTM Design Ltd graduated into business aviation design in 2007 with his first green complete interior design CRJ 700. Most recently the agency was tasked by 328 Support Services to design the cabin of the full business class “Envoy”, making the aircraft totally suited to the business aviation market. "The design must be able to be engineered, manufactured and work well”. Robin Dunlop graduated from London’s Brunel University in Industrial Design & Engineering,

a degree which became a major influence in CTM’s design philosophy and success. “The beautifying and quality are only truly admirable if the product functions correctly or intuitively,” explains Dunlop. The course at Brunel gave its students a broad technical knowledge covering mechanics, material technology and electronics as well as the more traditional subjects associated with a design course - illustration, model making, study of form and function.

It was through fellow Brunel peers that Dunlop was led to the aviation industry, firstly winning a university internal design competition, which secured a work placement with British Airways. He then moved on to assist his university friend Joe Ferry who had taken on the task of designing Virgin Atlantic out of a mediocre airline into successful prominence. “I was working

at an aircraft interior design and manufacture supplier, looking at projects for Airbus and Boeing when Joe said he needed help on the other side of the fence, the supplier side. He was frustrated with being told things

“couldn’t be done” and needed a fellow thinker on the other side of the table,” says Robin. The designer was later offered a fantastic opportunity working with Boeing’s inhouse design team and Teague Associates, the airline’s incumbent industrial design consultant.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, as the opportunity was snagged at the final hurdle.

Whilst waiting for visa approval to the States, the aviation industry was to witness the catastrophic event of 9/11. Dunlop recalls, “I just knew when I watched the devastating scenes on the BBC news that the move to Seattle was off.” Having given up his job and marketed his home, Dunlop was left to decide what was next. “For years people had been telling me to set up on my own and do my own thing – so out of this catastrophe came a motivation to give it a go,” he explains.

CTM Design cutting the mustard. 

CTM Design was set up in 2002 in a spare bedroom in Surrey. The name came from an old colleague of Dunlop’s: “He would always call and say in a faux French accent ‘Robin are you still cutting the mustard?” - the English saying for “to succeed; to meet expectation” - hence CTM…it just stuck!” The name captures the underlying philosophy that is always at play in the CTM studio: are the designs meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations? “By questioning this on a daily basis we can be sure that our work is truly delighting our clients and our client’s client”.

The agency graduated into VIP aviation interiors in 2007 with its first green complete interior, a CRJ 700. “Since then CTM design has worked on helicopters, small, medium and large jets, progressing their portfolio slowly but conscientiously. We get much more involved in projects now, we’re not the “sketch and forget” designer who leaves the engineers and production guys to scratch their heads and suffer the rebuke of the customer when a lovely illustration cannot be transformed in to the real thing.

Dunlop insists the designer/engineer relationship is crucial in the process to giving the client what they want. “This is a pivotal point in the process and completion management of such a thing as an aircraft”. He believes trust is the main component: “We have to trust that the engineers are going to ask us the right questions when a problem or compromise occurs and they have to trust that our designs will be 99% achievable.” The 1% allowance, Dunlop insists, is required to keep pushing the engineers and production minds in order not to repeat bad practices or poor quality. “At the end of the day whether it’s good design or bad design it still usually takes the same amount of time and money but with two very different outcomes…. The one we strive for is a truly satisfied client who walks into one of our designed aircraft and forgets all the little niggles and discussions which every project has at some point and is truly impressed by the outcome, as it exceeds all their expectations”

The Dornier 328 Envoy 

CTM’s main client at the moment sees the revival of the Dornier 328 Jet. Dornier, once a successful airframe manufacturer has had a chequered history, as its civil assets were acquired by Fairchild in 1996, and the company was renamed Fairchild Dornier. The company commenced production of the Dornier 328 in 1998 under license from Daimler Benz Aerospace.

The 328’s rugged performance and short runway performance, coupled with its excellent fuel efficiencies make it popular with the regional airline community. 328 Support Services is seeing increased interest from the business aviation fraternity, because the 328, with its spacious cabin is unique in its class. The full business class ‘Envoy’ can accommodate 12 to 14 seats.

A unique approach

It is with the ‘Envoy’ that the new owners recognized what they had and the need to give the aircraft an internal design overhaul that would make the aircraft totally suited to the business aviation market. CTM design won a competitive pitch with some more renowned and established transport design consultants with a unique approach. Dunlop explains: “We immediately recognized the aircraft’s potential and quickly convinced 328 SSG the areas in which design and good engineering could update and improve the current ‘Envoy’ offer”. One area, which Dunlop cites as a “less used tool” is that design can create leverage in the actual marketing of an aircraft. 328 SSG knew they had potential interest but as yet had not convinced any potential buyer to sign on the dotted line. By using CTM’s design sketches and computer renderings, 328 SSG could show their potential clients where they wanted to take the aircraft in terms of technology, look and feel, and even the ergonomics and functionality.

Ray Mosses, Head of Sales at 328 SSG, comments: “328 SSG and our incumbent engineering organization were all ex-Dornier, ex-Fairchild, ex-Avcraft and had been designing within a set of parameters for the life of the aircraft’s development and service. We needed a good shake up in our thoughts and a vision of what we could do with the aircraft”.

Sketches and renderings are discussed with engineers and production before final client approval.

“This aircraft is quite misleading, the cabin size is so much bigger than you expect, the washroom could potentially be even bigger”.

A fresh set of ideas

“Robin and his team came in with a fresh set of ideas but also an in-depth knowledge of what can be achieved onboard an aircraft from an engineering and certification perspective,”

Mosses continues. “We were able to advance our thoughts and potential quite quickly and convince prospective customers with visuals and detailed sketches of what we were trying to sell them”. The first new 328 Business Jet

was delivered in September 2008, the second in March 2009 and the third is in current production being readied for client handover in April 2010. Mosses explains: “Since the first aircraft and it’s unveiling at the Dubai Airshow

MEBA in 2008 the market and potential clients’ interest has strengthened. People have seen first-hand what they are getting for a fantastic price. In terms of cabin size we are competing with the likes of a Challenger or Gulfstream at a fraction of the cost with an outstanding product, created with British Design, German engineering and production within an established support network.”

Design philosophy

“We have now implemented further design improvements and enhanced everyone’s expectations of what we can achieve,” Robin Dunlop concludes. “Our philosophy for the design process is that no single stakeholder should dominate; all parties - client, designer, engineering and production - have an equal role to play. Above all it’s about meeting the client’s wishes and as the first skill base involved in the process, we as the designers interface with the client enhancing his/her vision and adding clarity. Time at the front end can save disappointment further down the process”.

CTM Design is now working on aircraft four, five and six. Dunlop believes that for the client, the engineering and performance of the aircraft is a given. The client’s concern is going to be on the more apparent elements - the look and feel, the quality and intuitiveness.

“Above all it’s got to look gorgeous!”.