The plane will act as an office by day and an event space at night © GMP Design|The furniture will be designed so it can be used for both occassions © GMP Design|The plane will contain a purpose built bar © GMP Design|The plane will contain a purpose built bar © GMP Design|The directors’ offices will become backlit features at night or small private dining rooms © GMP Design|The look and feel will reflect GMP’s work as club and bar designers © GMP Design|GMP is currently securing land on which to park its aeroplane © GMP Design||
Those familiar with the mind-busting boredom of long haul flights might wonder why anyone would choose to spend more time than necessary on an aeroplane. Not Neil Morten. The director of GMP Design sees his ‘office on an aeroplane’ as the ultimate talking point.
“I’m not an aeroplane head or anything,” he told onoffice. “We were doing a club and bar in an Boeing 737 for a client and I was joking with the airline, asking if they’d do a ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ deal.”
While Morten didn’t get the plane as part of a job lot, he claims it constitutes good value for money. “We want that ‘wow factor’, it’s novel and it’ll get people talking.” The price – “a trade secret” – worked out at half the price of a new build office, according to Morten.
“It’s like a caravan, you just rock up, plug it in and off you go,” He added.
The aeroplane will act as a design studio for GMP’s 15 (and growing) members of staff during the day, and will be hired out for events with “top chefs” at the weekend.
The studio specialises in bars and nightclubs for the likes of Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi. Under the ‘VIP Club’ section on its website, it includes “Club 195 featured on ‘The Only Way is Essex'”. The interior design has yet to be finalised, but will reflect the nature of GMP’s work.
“It’s got to be funky,” Morten said. “There’ll be a bar, moss wall, astroturf, pop art, lots of glass and changing colour lights. “As club people, we understand lighting and sound.”
GMP plans to design its own furniture range that’ll be suitable for an office environment and weekend events. Glass tables and laptops will provide the flexibility, while the directors’ glass offices will become backlit design features or small private dining rooms. The photocopiers and printers will be installed in a pop-up floor system, so they can be easily concealed.
The plane will be based on a plot of land in Staffordshire, up the road from its current design studio. The deal is likely to be finalised in the near future and GMP hopes to be on board by September. Hopefully, there’ll be no delays.
