Our Ethos
We are one of the leading international design agencies creating luxurious and innovative Interior Design, Architecture and Experiences in exotic locations and urban centers. A bespoke service whose original and creative style combines to deliver beautiful, sustainable and extraordinary design globally for some of the most prestigious and respected names in the fields of resort, hotel, lodge, restaurant, residential and retail design. We are visionary, multi-award winning, passionate and committed to excellence.
Our Philosophy
How to transcend the ephemeral, celebrate it, distill it, capture its essence in a way that is meaningful – universally and personally- and express it in a manner which makes the soul soar, is, we believe, the art of good design.
In an age where longevity – and indeed the cost of longevity on the land – is an ever-present factor, the question of what mark to make is an all the more important one. To find what is essential, central and magical in an object, a space, a person.
Organically, or by design, as time goes by certain themes recur, albeit in different forms, in the work of our design studio. Nature as a partner in design; working in remote and often exotic locations means that the natural elements, the sun, sea spray, desert winds and shifting sands all play a part in the mottling, rendering and life of objects and spaces. An ever-present participant in the process of design, nature is both the organic partner and mysterious muse in our work.
The sensorial attraction of materials that matter means that, more and more, our vehicles of expression in both our interior, architecture and product design have the essence of material authenticity, longevity, solidity and rarity. Surfaces that thrill the hand as much as the eye, textures that a blind man can experience, these are woven, layered into a tapestry of sustainably sourced textures. Coupled with this is the gentle hand; the mark of the skilled craftsman. In an age exhausted by homogeneity and cookie-cutter sameness, the random, the handmade, the intuitively soulful truly endures.
Bespoke, bespoke, bespoke.
A tailored approach to the life well lived is an essential principle of our practice.
Time and customization – both to an individual or a locale – are the greatest luxuries of our age.
For many years now, life has been engaged in earnest with the creation of ecologically sound products, processes and projects with clients and brands; the thrill in finding a new source of photovoltaic power or a way to interpret the techniques of a villager-builder are on a par with enjoying a new luxury textile in Paris or sourcing decadent finds in a Jaipuri souk. Establishing what is authentic, appropriate and contextualized and then realizing it in a sustainable manner is the most challenging and rewarding of tasks.
Myths, magic and mystery. A recurring theme in the work of the studio is the crafting, in three dimensions, of a visual narrative; weaving a sensual story which initially discreet, slowly, languorously, unveils itself and embeds itself in the poetic memory; the most enduring kind.
Collectivity is an African concept. And so, many of our product designs are designed in families, with the space between being as important as the individual objects themselves.
Every creative exercise begins as a denuding one. Slowly, layer by layer, the superficial is stripped away until we arrive at the essence, the spirit of the thing. And during this reductive process – a place for social commentary and urban excavation, cultural curiosity and playful exploration – with often irreverent cheekiness, the authentic essence is revealed, interpreted.
And so, when designing with respect and space for the spirit, it seems that what endures must surely be, the essence.
The soul.