Leading design and innovation company Teague has developed ‘Elevate’, an aircraft cabin concept that reimagines the in-flight experience using ‘floating furniture’. Jenny Southan reports

Working in collaboration with NORDAM, one of the world’s largest independently owned aerospace firms, Teague has created a cabin that offers premium passengers more personal space, privacy, and comfort in a home-like interior – without compromising existing passenger numbers.

Using NORDAM’s patented Nbrace composite seat attachment, “Elevate” allows airlines to configure single-aisle aircraft that are increasingly being used to fly long-haul, with an extremely spacious and luxurious first or business class experience.

Teague says that traditionally, “passengers may feel the premium experience in a narrowbody cabin does not meet or exceed the standard of a widebody – owing to the reduced cabin footprint, seat pitch and constrained cabin architecture” but Elevate could change that.Elevate by TeagueUp until now, aircraft cabin designs have been limited due to furniture attachment points being in the seat-tracks only, says Teague. But Elevate will be the first cabin in history to implement sidewall attachment points that enable the creation of a “lighter and more efficient suite environment”.

By using mounted fixtures in the sidewall that eliminate restrictive structures around the monitor, side-furniture and ottoman, Elevate increases the bed size, living space and stowage capacity for every passenger – providing a larger floorspace and promoting an expansive living space.Elevate by TeagueTeague says: “For front row and business class passengers, the suite environment wraps around the whole living space, creating a more exclusive and private zone that moves away from the typical tubular environment into a more luxurious residential atmosphere, while customized entrance lighting and overhead bins deliver a ‘wow’ factor for all passengers entering the cabin.”

Anthony Harcup, senior director of airline experience at Teague, says: “At a time when passenger wellbeing and sustainability are industry priorities, Elevate heralds-in a new generation of beautiful, simplified cabin products that will enable airlines to deliver exceptional experiences for their passengers with the economic efficiency that these smaller aircraft were designed to deliver.”Elevate by TeagueWhile the concept has been designed to resolve major pain points for passengers, it also has several unique and important advantages for airlines:

  • Consistent experience: The creation of a narrowbody passenger experience that matches that of a widebody aircraft, which is important for airlines with mixed fleets.
  • Market competitive: The reverse herringbone layout is familiar to passengers and regulatory bodies, and achieves market-competitive density (no reduction in passenger numbers) and seat pitch.
  • Lightweight cabin: Significantly lighter suite structures make every flight more fuel-efficient and therefore more sustainable.
  • Simple and efficient: Solid state design reduces the need for moving parts (e.g. suite doors) and the associated engineering cost and complexity.Elevate by Teague

NORDAM CEO Meredith Siegfried Madden says: “This is a next-generation innovation that enables more creative freedom for the aircraft interior design community. By revolutionizing how seats and other monuments attach to an aircraft, Nbrace recruits previously wasted space, transforming it into new aesthetic possibilities and dramatically improved passenger comfort, space and privacy.”

Elevate will be showcased at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2022 in Hamburg.

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