At 53 metres, M/Y HEED falls just short of the informal megayacht category (generally considered to start at 60m+). Whilst it might not be afforded ultimate bragging rights on the berthside, HEED isn’t about overall scale but quality and uniqueness of the execution.
M/Y HEED by Rossinavi
Built in Viareggio, with a hull shaped by Arrabito Naval Architect and an exterior by Alberto Mancini Yacht Design, HEED contains a remarkable interior scheme by Achille Salvagni Architetti, the London, New York and Rome-based studio that works across all manner of high-end interiors, from furniture design to hotels and private residences.
The living room on the main deck
The living room on the main deck
Like all yachts in its class, HEED is a truly bespoke creation, a one-of-one build that involved a lengthy collaborative process between shipyard, designers and client. Externally, HEED presents with a sleek and elegant superstructure, with a vertical bow and long ribbons of glazing on the main deck and the upper deck, home to the main saloon and owner’s suite respectively.
The owner's suite on the main deck
The owner's suite on the main deck
The latter has views towards the bow, complete with a private terrace and lap pool. Throughout the interior, softly curved timber has been used to line the principal living spaces, emphasising and highlighting design elements like the circular portholes and floating timber stairs, as well as the screens, stowage and access doors.
The yacht is also fully furnished by Salvagni’s studio, with a rich selection of curvaceous shell- and pebble-like furniture and bespoke pieces, ranging from the owner’s bed with its curved headboard to unique lighting elements.
The bespoke curved headboard in the owner's suite
The study in the owner's suite
The bathroom in the owner's suite
The materials used highlight contrast and craftsmanship, with unconventional joinery and alignments. Brushed, bleached wengé floors are paired with bleached teak walls, with insets of gloss polished dark eucalyptus. Marble and timber is used in the bathrooms, while throughout HEED there are distinctive metallic accents that combine copper, rose and deep red - amaranth - ‘flashes of intensity inspired by a Mediterranean sunset’.
Upper lounge area
In the dining room, an installation of polished seashells sprawls across the walls and ceiling, adding another layer of texture to the wood-lined space with its bespoke oval table. According to the studio, ‘doors, wardrobes and handles also avoid conventional profiles, swelling and curving as though shaped by water, pressure or wind.’
The dining room with its seashell installation
The dining room has its own fold-down balcony
Detail of bespoke furnishings in the dining room
A fold-down starboard balcony opens up the dining experience to the sea. This flexible approach is also adopted at the beach club and pool, where two fold-down platforms extend the usable outdoor area and provide direct access to the sea. The yacht is equipped with an onboard battery system that serves as the power source when the yacht is at anchor, for a zero emission ‘hotel mode’.
Upper lounge area
Ahead of the main saloon is the yacht’s garage, with space for a tender and other water toys. Below this is the crew cabin with berths for eight (a separate captain’s cabin is located in the wheelhouse). A bulkhead separates this area from the main guest cabins, consisting of three en-suite VIP double cabins and one twin cabin.
VIP cabin on the lower deck
VIP cabin bathroom on the lower deck
In addition to the main saloon, which runs the full beam of the ship and offers views to the horizon in each direction, HEED is equipped with an Observation Deck. ‘This has been an extremely stimulating project, one that will truly leave its mark on the market,’ says Federico Rossi, Chief Operating Officer of Rossinavi, ‘With generous open spaces, a panoramic owner’s cabin and a large pool, it is a yacht designed to be lived on, where functionality leads without compromising on style.’
The pool on the owner's deck
At 499GT, M/Y HEED weighs in under the 500 Gross Tonnage threshold, above which a number of additional international maritime regulations kick in, vastly increasing the requirements and rules for crew numbers as well as access to smaller marinas.
Alberto Mancini explains that ‘working within the 499 GT threshold allowed us to rethink proportion and space with greater freedom. Placing the owner’s suite forward on the upper deck creates a quieter, more intimate connection with the sea, while the metallic grey hull reveals the beauty of the yacht’s clean, sculpted surfaces through a delicate play of light and shadow throughout the day.’
Achille Salvagni Atelier describes the end result as a ‘private world shaped by water and wind: tactile, fluid and slightly mysterious, where the interior does not compete with the sea, but breathes with it.’
The main staircase and the lobby
‘From the beginning, I was interested in creating a world suspended somewhere between the sea and the sky: an interior without rigidity, where architecture seems to lose its conventional boundaries and become something softer, more instinctive, almost alive,’ says Salvagni, ‘I wanted the interior of this yacht to feel as though it had not been designed, but rather shaped by the forces that surround it — by water, wind, light and time.’
M/Y HEED by Rossinavi
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