The six designs still in the running to win the Flexjet Project LXi aircraft cabin design competition have been announced. The winning design will be brought to life on a Gulfstream G650, as part of Flexjet’s LXi Cabin Collection. The honour comes with a US$100,000 prize.
From 150 submissions, Flexjet selected 12 semi-finalists, which were put to public vote. The six finalists are:
- Kristin King, architect, with ‘Parisian-Inspired Café’;
- Jean-Pierre Alfano, designer, with ‘Paris Love Affair’;
- Robin Dunlop, design director, with ‘Hygge’;
- Susan Byrd, interior designer, with ‘Mid-Century Modern’;
- Todd Rushing, designer, with ‘Apogee: Pinnacle Design’; and
- Woojae Sohn, Embry-Riddle student, with ‘Functional Timeless Perfection’.
Flexjet chairman Kenn Ricci will pick the overall winner. “We have identified the six best designs [from more than 150 entries] and they’re all pretty good,” said Ricci. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s really hard to just get down to one.”
In a series of videos posted on social media, Ricci shared his thoughts on each of the designs:
Mid-Century Modern by Susan Byrd
“What I like so much about Susan’s were really three things,” said Ricci. “The carpet catches your attention immediately. Also the side of the seat being in wood is very rich; we’ve actually done that and watched it come out very well. But without a doubt, when you see this aircraft, when you see what Susan did, it’s the bulkheads. You’ll never see them again, they have a deco feel to them, particularly in the aft cabin where there’s a sconce. I find that detail just superb.”
Apogee: Pinnacle Design by Todd Rushing
“Todd’s I have to say, I was very, very attracted to early on,” said Ricci. “I’ve been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and it’s hard to translate a Wrightian design into an aircraft. When I saw Todd’s design I immediately thought, ‘Well that’s how you do it; that’s how you bring Frank Lloyd Wright to an aircraft’. The colours of the aircraft were very well done. There is an interesting feature with a planter in the middle of the aircraft – that might be a little difficult to do exactly how Todd imagined it, but I certainly thought it was creative.”
Functional Timeless Perfection by Woojae Sohn
“Woojae again used a very, very unique wood design,” said Ricci. “The carpet gives me the idea of motion, which I think is always welcome on an aircraft. Without a doubt, what I liked most about the design was really the dining table: the movement in the dining table is beyond. There was also unique tufting to the couch and to the ottoman – something I haven’t seen before. It’s a very elegant design, and one he should certainly be proud of.”
Hygge by Robin Dunlop
“[With] some of the submissions in the past, many of them are very detailed – wood on the sidewalls, wood on the ceilings – and as beautiful as they are, sometimes they can become too heavy, they can’t survive under the g-force requirements that we have in our aircraft,” said Ricci. “My eye gets drawn to Robin’s because it’s a design that is very light and airy, and the aircraft feels very open. Light materials do work very well in an aircraft. I think the interaction of the soft pastels along with the treatments on the tabletop is something special.”
Paris Love Affair by Jean-Pierre Alfano
“It’s one of the most striking ones that I’ve seen,” said Ricci. “The things that are striking about it are the starburst nature of the tabletops and the woodwork. I think this will be a very complicated design to pull off – and we’re researching it right now – but sometimes the more complicated, certainly the more impactful it could be. Often times we tend to just make the sidewalls and the ceiling of an aircraft blend together; it’s kind of a thought process about making the aircraft appear open and airy. But the design that Jean-Pierre gave us has a contrasting centre on the ceiling and it absolutely pulls it off very, very well. Very forward-thinking.”
Parisian-Inspired Café by Kristin King
“It’s a very elegant design and quite frankly it does remind me of Paris,” said Ricci. “I also think that the colour selection is very well done. The soft blues, the greens, are very warm and certainly one of the features of this aircraft, because it’s simple and elegant. The features around the lamps on the tables – we have to see whether it’s possible to outfit them – but that’s a very unique feature. And it’s really the only submission we had where they outline the windows. One of the things we know about Gulfstream is it’s about the window; and to outline that was a particularly unique feature and one that I found very attractive.”
An in-depth feature on Project LXi was published in the December 2024/January 2025 edition of Business Jet Interiors International.
The competition was open to anyone. The brief gave complete creative freedom, but designers were asked to “surprise and delight” Flexjet aircraft owners, while ensuring a welcoming and elegant experience, using aviation-appropriate materials.
The competition aimed to uncover bold new artistry to complement Flexjet’s existing selection of more than 50 custom interiors. “There were amazing designs that came in,” said Ricci. “I was surprised at how innovative they were.”
Images reproduced with the kind permission of Flexjet
