WORDS Amelia Brown IMAGES Adam Letch (ARRCC) Elsa Young (John Jacob Interiors)
ARRCC and John Jacob Interiors were two of the 100 interior designers and studios selected from around the world to be featured in Volume 22 of Andrew Martin Interior Design Review, published by teNeues.
The review, published annually to accompany the Andrew Martin Interior Designer of the Year Award, has become something of a cultural catalogue of design. Each year international designers submit their best work to be blindly judged by a panel that has included the likes of the Duchess of York, Twiggy, Sir Tim Rice, Elizabeth Hurley, and Jo Malone.
Both local studios have had the honour of being featured in previous reviews. We caught up with ARRCC Director Mark Rielly and John Jacob Zweiggelaar, owner of John Jacob Interiors, to get more details about this year’s volume.
What were your projects featured in Volume 22?
Mark: Miramar, a holiday apartment in Bantry Bay, Cape Town; City View, a contemporary inner-city family home in Cape Town; and Benguela Cove, a holiday home nestled in Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate on the Botriver Lagoon, with views across to the Arabella Golf Course.
ARRCC’s City View, Cape Town.
John: The three homes featured are located in Val de Vie, Franschhoek; Houghton, Johannesburg; and Constantia, Cape Town.
John Jacob Interiors’ Val de Vie project.
Tell us about the briefs for the projects and how you interpreted them.
Mark: For Miramar, the client challenged the ARRCC team to convert four separate one-bedroom apartments into an idyllic holiday retreat. The configuration of the new design was informed by how the client was going to be using the space: The master bedroom suite was designed to be entirely open plan with sliding shutters to separate it from the living areas when the apartment is fully occupied.
ARRCC used a neutral colour palette throughout Miramar to complement the natural materials and echo the cladding, which was used in key areas to reflect and accentuate the magnificent ocean views.
City View speaks to the owner’s love of design: The contemporary interior is warm and child-friendly without compromising on strong design accents; an inviting retreat from the bustle of everyday city living.
The intention of the interiors of Benguela Cove was to capture the minimalistic sensibility of the architecture, designed by SAOTA. Rich materials and an edited colour palette seamlessly integrate the décor and optimise the sense of space.
John: It’s funny how a brief is perceived in a very defined way. What people don’t realise is the complexity of dealing with personalities and someone’s personal space. You really need to understand who you are working with in order to fulfil their desires. The end result may not even look like what they told you they wanted! I need to look further than the initial brief to understand what the client really wants.
The briefs for these projects could not have been more varied, yet it’s interesting that the projects that were selected are quite similar in the way that they all conform to a classic ideal. The vernacular of the various houses are, in fact, very different and the language of the interior detailing was adapted to suit the architecture.
The conservatory in the Constantia home by John Jacob Interiors.
What do you believe makes your aesthetic and approach to projects unique?
Mark: ARRCC is led by its partners, myself, Michele Rhoda and Jon Case, and has a global footprint. Our approach to residential, hospitality and leisure interiors is a distinctly refined design sensibility. Our ability to create smart spaces and authentic emotive experiences is attributed to the team’s highly personal work ethic, ceaseless curiosity, inherent intuition and obsession with challenging boundaries. By producing the unexpected, ARRCC demonstrates new ways of living that are at once delightfully surprising and unmistakably innate.
John: I have always approached our projects in a holistic manner: They are both architecturally rational and decorative. When furniture and decoration work harmoniously with the architecture of a space, you end up with something that makes sense, something special.
What does it mean to you to be featured in the Andrew Martin Interior Design Review?
Mark: Being listed as one of the top 100 interior design firms in the world is a real honour and a true recognition of the hard work and dedication of the ARRCC team. Sharing this accolade with many of our peers and icons is a celebration of everything we strive to achieve in creating with design. We are proud that we can represent South African design and showcase it to the world.
Benguela Cove project by ARRCC is in Walker Bay, Hermanus.
John: I think it’s great that South African projects are featured in the directory. There is so much design talent in the architecture and design industry locally, and it’s very much in our culture to value our living spaces.
What’s on the horizon for the studio?
Mark: We are very excited to be completing our first private luxury game reserve, Cheetah Plains, in Sabi Sands, opening December 2018. The other resort projects in the pipeline are in the Maldives, Turkey and China.
John: I always get so excited when we start a new project. I can consolidate everything I have learned over the years in the industry. I’m so excited to get stuck into 2019 with amazing commissions all over South Africa and a couple in Africa and Mauritius.
The entrance hall of John Jacob Interiors’ Houghton project.
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