Uniti One Concept 2017

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Design Lead (Exterior / Interior), Polygon modelling: Marcelo Aguiar

Design Team: Julius Nobling, Sharan Ahooja, Gaurav Kumar

UI/UX, Steering Interface design: Bo Johansson Möller

Class A Surfacing:

Modelling Team Lead (Design / Engineering): Henrik Björkvald
Exterior - IDV (main surfaces), Henrik Björkvald (final touches and B surfaces)

Interior - Henrik Björkvald

Car Photos: BSMART | Karl-Fredrik von Hausswolff

Design

Marcelo Aguiar

The main objective of the design evolution carried out during Prototype phase was to shape the Initial Concept into a more mainstream product, while maintaining coherence with the shift of the brand’s values.

The main keywords for this design evolution were

Scandinavian approach

Product feel

Consumer electronics

Clean, uncluttered

Seamless

Straightforward

Exterior

After the final proposal was selected, the overall design went through several iterations. The goal was to remove all the unessential features, in order to reach the intended clean, uncluttered look. Design cycles were marked by periodic design reviews (within the design team and occasionally with external stakeholders as well).

Proposals were communicated through sketches, polygon model renders and VR viewing sessions, which allowed for a fast-paced design evolution. 3D printed and styrofoam physical models were also produced for a better validity assessment and further improvements on the design.

Once the final design - and consequently, the brand’s DNA - was established, the prototyping phase was kickstarted. While the design team moved on to the Interior, support was given to surfacing modellers and the engineering team. The final polygon model served as a base for discussions and communicating the design intent.

Problems inherent to the process of transition from mesh to A-Class were solved as they arose, in the Exterior, as well as in the Interior. The Prototype was built in-house, along with the other two show cars that were on display in two MediaMarkt stores in Sweden in 2018. Despite being only a design intent prototype, its rear wheels were equipped with two hub motors.

Interior

Exterior elements served as base for the development of the interior, such as the light catcher along the belt line, which was reinterpreted as a protective soft ring around the cockpit to give a feeling of safety. Through a more comprehensive approach towards the interior as a whole, design elements connect the front and the rear passengers, strengthening the concept.

Generated from the Protective Ring, secondary lines flow to create other interior elements, such as metal trims, door card storage and front cubbies.

Materials were chosen to convey the feeling of premium, keeping the visual and tactile softness, and have it contrast with the metal trim elements. Several different textures for the Protective Ring were explored to strengthen the perceived quality of the interior, while adding an additional layer of detail. A combination of different fabrics was selected, favouring the duality of colours and textures: Silvertex Carbon gave a subdued, yet premium feel to the general surfaces while Hitch Carbon made the Ring stand out because of its brighter colour and rich texture.

Driver's Seat

For the driver’s seat surface transitions were kept to a minimum for a clean look. The main theme of the seat back is the soft edge that flows up from the base, its radius tightening as it goes around the headrest, and down again to the base. The reason for this radius variation is to keep proportions coherent and to give, along with the positive surfaces, a muscular feel in the lower section. There is a soft negative transition to emphasise the edge at shoulder level.

After the main shape and proportions were worked out, details were added, such as the metal ring around the seat base (repeating the protective ring theme); seat belt details (loop at shoulder level, buckle and end bracket detailing with branding); and the base itself for the runners. The back is designed so that the seat belt goes inside the seat after passing the loop. It then runs through a channel along the seat back all the way to the retractor, which is located in the seat base, under the seat padding.

Updating the Dashboard

The Top Screen Array Dashboard represents an evolution from the prototype interior. Complying with the brand’s DNA, it builds on pre-existing elements such as the full 360 Protective Ring around the interior. Even though the steering and screen console flow from the dashboard top over the Protective Ring, interrupting it, the top part brings back the original lines, preserving the enclosed, protecting feel. The asymmetric nature of the new layout is balanced by symmetric elements, such as the screen array and its slots (intended for vents and speakers), and the top chamfer edges fading to zero on the top, towards the centreline.

As the design evolved from the original drive-by-wire controls to a conventional steering wheel, it did so using the existing DNA as a base throughout the several iterations. The key features were the original thumb screens, a dual tone colour scheme and a general product design feel. Different centre sections and thumb screen formats were tested. A solution where repetition of shapes consistent with Uniti DNA was favoured – the round centre section relates to the closed wheel caps on the exterior - and the screens format resemble the screen array strip above.

Surface Modelling

Henrik Björkvald

I joined a bit late, when the exterior was modeled already, to help fix it and ready it for proper engineering. As always, things that look ok might not always be ok for downstream and these are one of the reasons buying design can be hard, even for building "only" a concept car that will be in a limited production, surfacing needs to be water tight, aesthetically top notch and so on. So the assignment switched quickly from concept engineering to surfacing and for the interior, building it from scratch which is actually easier and suited me better.

The modeling was carried out next to design and engineering, combining the needs and wants from both sides, and tooled/produced on site or by vendors in a tight time schedule.

I remember once when I just managed to get one of the parts finalized late Friday, and the tech guys/gal made the snaps work, printed it, fixed it up and painted it over the weekend. The live show was the following week, 2000 people, no way back, no room for error.

That just sums it up, really.