The Italian shipyard’s approach to yacht design harnesses the restorative power of the ocean to create environments where owners can live well over time.
There’s something about being at sea that feels distinctly restorative. The stresses of the shore fall away in the salt air, and the pressures of daily life ease into the wake as the yacht leaves land behind. For many owners, time onboard is the only point in the year when the pace of life slows. Calls drop away, schedules ease, and attention returns to the present. At Sanlorenzo, that shift is not left to chance. It is built into the design. “Proximity to the sea increases the sense of wellness,” says executive chairman of Sanlorenzo, Massimo Perotti. “Being on the water is a positive element for the human being. You travel without formality, you reduce the speed of life, and you forget the problems of everyday life. We simply create the conditions for that.”
For more than 60 years, Sanlorenzo has defined Italian excellence in yacht building, crafting custom superyachts that combine refined design with innovative engineering. Its approach is grounded in architecture. Over the past decade, its collaboration with Sanlorenzo art director Piero Lissoni has established an approach shaped by lifestyle and longevity. Interiors are arranged as connected spaces, allowing movement to feel easy and uninterrupted, while each element is considered in terms of how it will be used over time. The focus is not only on how a yacht is experienced at the moment, but how it continues to support life onboard across years of ownership. “Our responsibility is to design not only for today, but for how our clients will live in the future,” says Perotti.
The modus operandi extends beyond the interior, shaping how each space relates to the sea and the owner’s style of living. That understanding informs the way each yacht is developed. Sanlorenzo’s long-standing “made-to-measure” philosophy has evolved into a process of co-creation, where owners work closely with the yard to define how their yacht will function in practice. Layouts are adjusted around individual routines, whether that involves extended family use, long-distance cruising or integrating work into life on the vessel.
One current project involves a 74 m yacht designed with an entire deck dedicated to office space, allowing its owner to spend several months a year onboard while continuing to run his business. “He wants to move his office onboard,” says Perotti. “The intention is not to work less, but to work better.”
Meanwhile, the latest 74Steel project, known as Virtuosity, was conceived for a Canadian owner with strong eco-credentials and designed to bring nature into greater focus. In an industry first, a living tree rises through the centre of the yacht, becoming a centrepiece across multiple levels. The decision required a rethinking of the yacht’s structure, with space removed across decks to accommodate it, as well as an extended development process to ensure it could survive the conditions at sea, from salt air to constant movement. The idea, as Perotti describes it, was to bring something natural onboard—creating a more immediate connection to the environment. “It becomes a focal point,” says Perotti. “You lose space, but you gain something different.”
Developed over more than four years of dialogue between owner and shipyard, the Virtuosity project reflects a broader approach to design. Elements such as the tree, the reflecting pool on the owner’s deck, and the expanded ocean-level living areas are not conceived as additions, but as outcomes of a single architectural approach, integrating nature, light and structure. This is most apparent at sea level, where the reconfigured “Ocean Resort” extends across more than 200 m², opening laterally to the water and maintaining a direct connection to the sea. Below, a submerged lounge within the hull brings the marine world into view at eye level.
“We are obsessed with proportions, with intelligent architecture and with balance,” says Renato Bisignani, group chief marketing and communication officer at Sanlorenzo. “Design is at the core of what we do, and innovation is always aimed at improving the experience onboard.”
As owners increasingly prioritise time, individuality and longevity, the yacht builder’s emphasis on experience and wellbeing has underpinned its recent success. With its design credentials and preference towards quiet luxury, Sanlorenzo does not position itself for a broad market, instead focusing on a group of owners—often described internally as connoisseurs—who share a strong interest in design, architecture and art, and have a clear understanding of how they want to live on the ocean. “We cater to a very selective audience,” says Bisignani. “People who understand quality and excellence.”
This perspective has shaped the company’s wider cultural engagement. Its long-standing presence at Milan Design Week, and its partnerships with institutions such as the Guggenheim and Art Basel, reflect a natural alignment with its client base, many of whom are collectors and participants in those worlds. “It is a natural evolution,” Perotti says. “Our customers appreciate design, and they appreciate art—they understand what we are doing.”
Projects like the recently launched SHE yacht reflect this intersection of heritage and contemporary thinking, drawing on references from the past while incorporating modern propulsion systems and updated spatial concepts.
Across all of its work, Sanlorenzo is consistently dedicated to how its yachts can be enjoyed over time. “The point is not only to live more,” says Perotti, “but live well.”
