Cruise Ship Interiors Expo Exhibitor Metalika provides custom-made interiors and constructions based on innovation and traditional workmanship, as a family tradition since 1932. Their production consists of modern wood working machinery and surface coating appliances. Metalika’s main line of business is custom-made furniture, luxury yacht interiors, and private house interiors. In this guest article, Metalika introduce their innovative new product, the Nautilus Pod, a space-saving design perfectly adapted to the marine industry. Read on…
The Idea
The growing need from ship owners and operators/managers looking for increased overnight capacity while offering high quality sleep on a small space fuelled the idea of a high comfort, compact sleeping unit which is perfectly adapted to the marine industry.

The Nautilus pod is a brand-new and one-of-a-kind product. It has been developed and precisely fitted to the demands and conditions of the maritime sector, and offers a combination of features and benefits unequalled by any current sleeping unit.
This claim is founded on three key points:
- Comfort and convenience for the sleeping guest
- Pleasing and relaxing high-level design for the eye, to the touch and soul
- Its excellent value at purchase, ease of transport and installation, low cost of ownership and long-term high-frequency use.
The Design
The Nautilus pod yacht-inspired design was designed and engineered to offer a vast range of installation and programming options.

With the ability of the side and top shape to be adapted to various needs it is ideal for medium and long-haul ships from various shipping locations, ferries, hospitals, airports, offices and other. It has the benefit of being a luxurious, well-equipped compact single-bed cabin that can simply be converted to a double-bed capacity. The sleeping pod is a totally private, soundproof sleeping place, with your own TV, music, a mini-bar and dedicated storage. It may be used as a single pod for airport or similar use, or stackable for more compact installations, such as ships and capsule hotels. With the addition of a galley, living space, and washroom/showers, the Nautilus may simply be converted into a modular crew quarter community.
The pods will be offered with different options, from entertainment like TV and radio, a strong Wi-Fi connection, to comfort like your personal refrigerator and ambient lighting. The comfortable ergonomic mattress offers a relaxing stay. An adjustable reading light will facilitate bedtime reading. The Nautilus Pods will be offered in different colour schemes and variations depending on use and customer specification.

There are application variants possible when single cabins are needed to accommodate more people. A typical arrangement suitable for crew quarters with separate sleeping cabins: a side-entry pod variation enables two pods to be stacked in order to transform a single cabin into a two cabin, shared washroom setup.
Features and Benefits
The Nautilus Pod offers benefits to the three key groups: the investor, the user and the operator. The interests of all parties mentioned are well covered by the product:
- Providing the unrivalled comfort and convenience of a small home, resulting in an ideal sleeping and resting environment
- It allows the manager or operator of the sleeping units to clean and maintain the units easily, quickly, and at a minimal cost.
- Nautilus is perfect for the investor or ship owner owing to its convenience and low cost of integration into existing spaces and technological environments, as well as its safety, strength, resilience, and long-lasting quality together with good buying value and low cost of ownership. Both fire and sound insulated, the pods are pre-wired from the factory to facilitate the installation, making it quick and easy.
Comfortable mattress: quality sleeping in a compact space
All controls for tv, radio and lights: at the reach of your hand
Safe with combination lock: a safe hideout for your valuables, phone, wallet
Personal refrigerator: keep your snacks and drinks fresh
USB charging ports: easily and quickly recharge your phone or laptop, keeping you connected to the world
Dedicated luggage space: organise your belongings and save space
The Materials
The pods are designed, engineered and made in Europe, using know-how and high-quality materials from German, Italian and Slovenian brands and suppliers. The Nautilus is designed to be easily cleaned and maintained while lasting a long time, and are both sound and fire insulated. All materials incorporated in Nautilus sleeping pods comply with IMO MED regulations. Both exhibited pods will be built to full specification and functionality to show the optional equipment.
About Metalika
Nautilus is engineered, made and offered by Metalika ship&yacht interiors, a leading cruise-ship and yacht interior supplier from Slovenia. Metalika is based on a 90-year family tradition of design and production of high quality interior furnishings. Now run by third and fourth generation of the family, the company is specialized in cruise-ship and yacht interiors. Metalika excels by a unique set of talents employed, based on decades of experience on international marine industry markets, and with a strong in-house design and R&D team. The production unit of 3000m2 area is equipped with new and first-class machinery and all necessary infrastructure to manufacture the highest quality requested by growing standards of the marine industry.
About J&J Design
Nautilus was designed by J&J Design. The office has four decades of tradition in yacht design with over 65000 yachts sailing worldwide built by the world leading builders in 22 countries. J&J is seen a specialist in turning small spaces and volumes into high-quality living areas.
Want more of this?
Check out the Cruise Ship Interiors (CSI) Design Expo Europe blog for more design insights and the latest industry updates. CSI Design Expo Europe is a specialised conference and exhibition catered exclusively to the European cruise interior design industry, with a unique focus on Europe’s luxury ocean, river, and expedition cruising. The next event will be taking place on 3 – 4 December 2025 at Hamburg Messe & Congress.