Dancing with LALABE - Guido de Groot

Van der Valk has launched the 35m LALABE ahead of her Cannes debut. LALABE is another custom design that builds on the foundations of the engineering of the multi-award-winning Lady Lene, this time adapted as a fast displacement hull capable of 17 knots, and with every element above the waterline drawn from a blank sheet of paper by Guido de Groot, who has been responsible for LALABE’s exterior and interior design in close collaboration with the owners.

As her Project Samba build name suggests, LALABE has been conceived to offer a yachting experience centred on the rhythms of life and of the sea. Custom created to deliver an exceptional seaborne sanctuary for a multi-generational family, key elements of waterside residential living have been ported from land to luxury yacht, such as the inviting garden terrace reimagined as an expansive aft cockpit and beach area that offers alfresco dining, relaxed sofas, sauna and steam room, a beach chill-out zone and a transformer platform to given easy access to the sea.

The design also encapsulates the inside-outside living ethos, with deck areas moving seamlessly into interior spaces and with boundaries between the two blurred or removed altogether – on the bridge deck, for example, sliding doors open the upper saloon on three sides to create a true hybrid and truly flexible area.