Alfred van Zanten is responsible for crafting marble onboard yachts. As he reveals his genuine fascination with geology, his hands-on experience of 271 raw materials – all of which he has catalogued in his mind – and his unrelenting perfectionism, it becomes clear why Feadship has employed him for the last 47 years.
To date, Alfred has worked on 80 Feadship projects and is eminently qualified from a marble perspective to detail what it is that sets Feadship apart from the rest. “We always choose the best quality marble, we always build a full-scale template in plywood first – no shortcuts on a computer screen – and everything is water polished for a superior shine,” says Alfred, “It takes the eye of an expert to notice the difference in standards between companies’ work, and that expert is me.”
SET IN STONE
The journey begins in the sample room
at Feadship. The architect or interior
designer will peruse marble pieces from all over the world – from semi-
precious stones such as onyx and
dragon to precious gemstones like lapis lazuli and tiger’s eye. Marble is the catchall term for the selection, but it includes limestone and granite too;
these materials might feature onboard in
bathrooms, powder rooms and pantries,
the surfaces of indoor and outdoor bars, and even as decorative table
tops. Together with a colour screen of
potential fabrics and leathers, a proposal
is made to the client that suggests the
concept’s look and atmosphere.
When agreed upon, it’s time to go
to the source.
QUALITY TIME
Once Alfred’s agent has traced the
required materials that might originate
from the mountains of Brazil, Mexico,
Turkey, Spain, Italy or Greece, Alfred
and the architect will travel to inspect
them. “Marble is a metamorphic rock
made from microscopically small
calcium carbonate crystals,” Alfred
explains, “and each country’s geological
sites will offer a distinguishing colour
and characteristic. The most famous – the material used by the classical
sculptural masters – comes from an
area that stretches between Carrara and
Viareggio in western Tuscany.” Once the quality is approved, the owner
is invited to view the large marble slabs
before they are transported to Holland
to be re-polished and cut exactly to the template. “The marble arrives at
the shipyard and we install it by butting
everything together with a special glue
so that there are no ugly seams to fill
with a compound or filler,” Alfred says,
“it's another key Feadship difference.” Once the marble is fitted, the other
design elements in a room can follow.
MATERIAL WORLD
In his long tenure at Feadship, Alfred
has noticed the raw materials he works
with erupting with variety, jumping
from 2 or 3 types of marble to 43
different kinds in the last 10 years.
He now also works with 140 types of
leather, including salmon, eel and deer
skin for exotic wall panelling. Alfred has an assistant, but he can mentally
reference all 271 raw materials himself:
“I know if they break easily, are hard to
polish, are heavy or difficult to come by.
It’s a live experience,” he says, adding:
“We do it all to enormous perfection at
Feadship. Nobody can beat us, let’s put
it that way.”
