Getting more from every cabin: the P&O Ferries refurbishment

A cabin has no room for wasted decisions. Every material, every light source, every fixture must justify its place in a fixed footprint - the same discipline that shapes good retail floor plans. When P&O Ferries needed its cabins to feel like a premium product again, that discipline is what solved it.

The brief: a cabin that undersold itself

Guest feedback was clear: the cabins on Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull felt below expectation. P&O Ferries brought us in to redesign the Club Suites, Club 5 and Club 4 Berth cabins first, as part of a longer-term plan to update almost 500 cabins per ship.

Reading the space before drawing it

We started by looking at how guests move through a cabin - where they dress, where they store luggage, where the eye lands first on entry. That reading shaped the palette: blues, whites and light wood tones to push the walls out visually, and variable warm LED lighting to soften the geometry of a small room. Bespoke artwork from our graphic team gave each cabin a focal point, so the eye has somewhere calm to rest.

Details that change how a space performs

Twin beds became doubles, freeing floor area and changing how the room reads on entry. USB charging points and satin stainless steel switch plates replaced dated fittings. These are small details, but the ones a guest notices in the first thirty seconds. Every material met IMO certification, so nothing traded compliance for finish.

Proving the design before committing to it

We built a full mock-up cabin in Northern Ireland before signing off the rollout. Standing in the real space, not a rendering, let us and every contracting party catch detailing issues early: a switch plate too close to a bed frame, a light angle that cast the wrong shadow. The became cheaper fixes at mock-up stage, over expensive ones once fit out starts.

‍

From drawing board to finished cabin

We delivered full design intent technical drawing packages, then worked alongside P&O Ferries and contractor BluMarine through fit-out to completion. The finished Club cabins now match what guests expect from the price they're paying.

Get more from your space

Whether it's a cabin, a store or a leisure venue, the right design decisions turn a fixed footprint into stronger performance.

Talk to WDC Spaces about your design optimisation project.