Nendo teams up with AREP to transform the interiors of France’s TGV

French industrial designers AREP, a subsidiary of SNCF, has teamed up with the Japanese agency Nendo to create a new high speed rail experience, the InOui TGV. AREP, which stands for ‘Architecture Recherche Engagement Post-carbone’, worked with Nendo on every facet of the new train, from the livery to the interior fixtures and fittings, combining their shared experience in product, furniture and transportation design.

The two studios describe the overall design theme in a single world, ‘flow’. This approach emphasises a dynamic fluidity through form, texture and colour, an appropriate image for one of the world’s pre-eminent high-speed transit systems. The partnership dates back to 2018 and incorporates not just the colour, materials and form of the new TGV interiors, but a visible commitment to low- and post-carbon design.

According to the designers, the Flow concept is based around the idea that the ‘train looks like no other means of transport, it makes its way through the landscape, rather like the flow of a river.’ This liquidity is emphasised by a horizon line running through the interiors and exteriors, a line that ‘reinforces the perspective and evokes the surface of the water.’

Soft shapes are used throughout, from the forms of the seats and the banquettes in the InOui TGV bistro, and the individual lighting elements that illuminate the tables. Colours are darker towards the ground and become lighter as the eye rises through the carriage, up to the lighting elements in the ceiling. Bold elements, like the sparkling yellow lamps and red and yellow seat pockets, provide a contrast. The new train’s two-level Bistro carriage has a self-service restaurant on the lower level and 28 bench-like seats on the upper deck lounge.

As SNCF points out, a new interior must last for several decades and be easily cleaned, maintained and upgraded. Although comfort is the number one consideration, great effort has been put into to ensure that 97% of the materials used can be recycled. In addition to having fully accessible seating areas, bright colour schemes throughout use natural light to help cut down on energy consumption, along with ultra-durable surfaces and structures of the seats and tables.

SNCF hopes the InOui TGV will enter service in 2026 and set a new standard for France’s rail environments.

AREP.fr, Nendo.jp, SNCF-Connect.com