Toby Silverton
Toby Silverton is a British yacht designer who collaborated with Reymond Langdon Design on the exterior of the 98m megayacht Aviva, built by Abeking & Rasmussen and launched in 2017, featuring a revolutionary padel tennis court.
Collaborative Design on a Record-Breaking Yacht
Toby Silverton is a British yacht designer whose name is closely associated with one of the most innovative superyacht projects of the past decade. He collaborated with the award-winning design studio Reymond Langdon Design on the exterior of the 98m megayacht Aviva, built by the prestigious German shipyard Abeking & Rasmussen. Launched in January 2017, Aviva represented the largest yacht ever built at the Lemwerder yard, requiring an elaborate launch system involving a 60-wheel special transporter and a floating pontoon from Norway.
Engineering and Innovation
The exterior design developed by Silverton and Reymond Langdon was not merely aesthetic but deeply integrated with the yacht's groundbreaking features. Aviva incorporated an optimized hull design that combined excellent seakeeping with a 20% reduction in resistance, lowering fuel consumption and enabling a top speed of 20 knots. The yacht's most distinctive feature—a 20m long, 10m wide, and 6m high padel tennis court—required significant exterior design integration. Silverton's contribution helped shape a vessel that successfully balances sport, luxury, and efficiency within a single, cohesive profile.
Legacy of the Aviva Project
The 98m Aviva was a second iteration of the name for the same owner, following a 2007 build also by Abeking & Rasmussen. Silverton's collaboration on the exterior demonstrated how owner-driven concepts could be translated into buildable, elegant superyachts. With hybrid propulsion allowing silent 11-knot cruising and MTU power for higher speeds, Aviva remains a benchmark for owner-operator collaboration in the superyacht sector.
