List General Contractor (List GC) is an Austrian family-run business which fits out exclusive motor and sailing yachts as well as luxury apartments and residences. The company was commissioned with the project management of the interior of Lürssen motoryacht Lady Jorgia [formerly Ahpo], covering four decks and a total of 745m², furnishing the yacht with handcrafted special surfaces and exclusive fittings.

The List GC development area on the main deck, consisting of the salon, dining room, wine storage and board room, covers almost 290m². The owner’s deck is equipped with an informal lounge and the sky lounge deck with a fitness room. The yacht’s pièce de résistance, the spacious spa area, is located on the lower deck of the ship.

Meeting complex requirements
The execution plans of a yacht interior include every detail, no matter how small. List GC coordinates countless surveying and elaborate feedback and approval processes with the shipyard, design studio and subcontractors, including quality controls, before the assembly process on the yacht, which is accurate to the millimetre, can begin. Such was the case with Lady Jorgia, which was handed over to the first owner in 2021.

Herwig Schmallegger, senior coordinator project management at List GC, made sure that the project ran without a hitch: “In terms of construction, the project was an extremely small-scale and precise job. There was a huge number of components and countless special requirements and designs: communication on an equal footing and tact were our ingredients for success on this project.”

Managing the expectations of the various project partners is also crucial. “The more the designers, owners, shipyard and List GC team are on the same wavelength, the better things will go. And things couldn't have gone better on the Ahpo [now Lady Jorgia] project,” adds Schmallegger.

Design in the details
The stylish mother-of-pearl 3D varnish finish by List GC adorns the walls and parts of the ceiling of the spa area and the informal lounge. The handmade special surfaces were designed especially for the project. In collaboration with design studio Nuvolari Lenard, the surfaces were matched to the customer’s wishes. Details specified by the design team, in the form of samples or visualisations, had to be created and recreated in detail – for example, from a 10 x 10cm reference sample to an entire wall with a total area of 200m².  The sampling process continued for several months and required a high degree of creativity and craftsmanship.

An essential step here was to ensure that the surfaces were not only visually appealing but also hard-wearing. A common approach is therefore to test in advance how the surfaces will develop over a longer period of time. This is done by exposing the samples to extreme temperatures from -20 degrees to +40 degrees for two weeks – simulating what the ageing process over several years would look like. “When developing the special surfaces, we benefited greatly from our experience working on past superyacht projects. We knew exactly how to integrate all the processes into the tight schedule – and which steps required a particularly close eye or even sensitivity at times,” says Christof Hack, engineer at List GC.

Meeting multiple challenges
Another feature in the spa area besides the mother-of-pearl surfaces is the teak ceiling in leaf form, consisting of three large and two small leaves. A single one of these leaves has a dimension of five to six metres with seven to eight segments each, separated by curved joints.

On the production of the teak ceiling, Karl Lechner, team coordinator production at List GC, says: “The work processes of the project were practically mirrored. The material was worked on the floor, but ultimately applied to the ceiling of the yacht. This requires a high degree of spatial thinking and extreme accuracy. The size of the individual sheets also presented us with challenges in terms of space. Every single step had to be weighed in the mind beforehand. When you see the result and everything works perfectly together, you get an unparalleled sense of achievement every time.”

The value of teamwork
At List GC, the roles and areas of work are as diverse as the yachts that are furnished. Every project presents new challenges and variety, which is a great motivator in the company. Christof Hack says: “When the steel of the ship is ready, that’s when we get to work – down to the last piece of decorative upholstery. Employees could be taking care of the stonework, the furniture, the lighting, the fabrics, or the leather. The interior design is always different. You don’t get that variety in any other profession, and I think that’s the most exciting thing.”

Expertise and experience count
List GC has a wealth of experience, having worked on many exceptional projects over the past 20 years, such as 80m M/Y Artefact, 111m M/Y Alaiya and 32.5m S/Y Ribelle. “Since strict secrecy is paramount in our industry alongside high-quality standards, we are all the more pleased to be able to report on this after successful implementation and provide insights into our varied, unique projects,” says Christian Bolinger, managing director at List GC.

As a general contractor, the company offers everything from a single source – from planning through project management to the completion and assembly of luxury indoor and outdoor living areas. At the moment, work is being carried out on 14 new construction projects in various stages.

All images by Guilluame Plisson

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List General Contractor

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