We Design Volvo

More Volvo Ocean Race Inspiration

We took some images when working with the interior design of the Volvo Ocean Race Edition. I think it is pretty clear what elements from the nautical cards and carbon sails of the Volvo Ocean Race ships that inspired me. See more in this post: Designing with Volvo Ocean Race in mind.

/Anders

VOLVO VOLVO OCEAN RACE design designer inspiration interior cars car

Designing with Volvo Ocean Race in mind

Volvo Cars makes a Volvo Ocean Race edition and this time my job was to work on a detail of the interior that was specifically related to the competition Volvo Ocean Race. Volvo Ocean Race is the formula 1 of sailing and my objective was to create something that mirrored the cool, sporty feeling.

I went through some ideas based on the landscapes and archipelago outside of Gothenburg but scrapped that idea since it was a bit too obvious as a symbol. I had just looked at nautical charts just before I went to one of the harbours visiting the boats. The sails on these extremely high tech boats reminded me about the nautical charts since they are full with lines of carbon.

While in the studio, I put the nautical chart in the background and combined with a shot from the harbor. If you look closely on the final result you will see that there are boats in the harbour. You can see it on decor panels in e.g. an XC 70 Volvo Ocean Race edition or on the passenger panel in a V60.

The second lap of Volvo Ocean Race runs between Cape Town and Abu Dhabi and preliminary date for reaching Abu Dhabi is the 1st of January. Cool to have a look at what they’re up to here.

/Anders

volvo ocean race design interior

Touchscreens, video

In this video I show the main design features of the touchscreens and instrument clusters used in the Volvo Concept You. /Conny

volvo concept you touchscreen interior car design video

Sound system from Alpine

The Volvo Concept You has a unique sound system developed in cooperation with Alpine. Part of the sound system is the FreshAir subwoofer which uses air outside of the car. This technology makes the subwoofer significantly lighter. In this video we explain how this sound technology from Alpine works.

volvo concept you car design alpine sound system interior video

Interior and details

Well-dressed gentleman – that is one of the visions for the interior design. Simple, clean and elegant forms. Forms that are suitable for materials. The wood panels are large and not purely decorative. The leather fits the forms with padded soft leather. The back doors are sweeping and, when closed, attach and integrate with the back seat. This is the Scandinavian design heritage – the right material for the right purpose. This perspective takes everyone in the car into account.

The interior is sporty and dark in the front, while the passenger environment is like a lounge: light, soft and smooth. The carpet is in one piece all the way from the front to the back. We tie this together with a wood panel that goes from dark in the front to light in the back. The carpet is also shaded similarly. /Conny

volvo concept you car design interior details

Interior design

The main vision for the design of Concept You’s interior design is the notion of “designed around you”. The design of the interior reflects an intuitive and user-centred approach. We achieve this by going back to an old idea of creating separate interior zones – one for the driver in the front, and another for the passengers in the rear.

The driver zone is dark while the passenger zone is covered in blond-coloured leather. The driver seat is made from a suit material from Swedish suit maker Oscar Jacobson which gives this luxurious upperclass gentry type feeling. The different colour zones create an overall “dark to light” design.

The interior design is based on Volvo’s Scandinavian heritage founded on simplicity and purity - this results in an interior completely without buttons. /Jonathan

volvo concept you interior car design

This is how we envision the interior of the Volvo Concept Universe

volvo volvo concept universe design car design interior