WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Luke Kuisis, Steyn Studio

When London-based South African perfume entrepreneur Steyn Grobler approached fellow countryman Coetzee Steyn of Steyn Studio to design the vessel for Aqualis, the commission presented an unfamiliar design problem. “The initial response was a kind of nervous curiosity,” says Coetzee. Rather than designing a building, the studio was asked to develop an object experienced primarily through touch – one that would become part of the daily ritual of wearing fragrance.

“The interesting thing about designing for touch is that the hand becomes the measure of the object,” says Coetzee. “You become conscious of things that are easy to overlook when designing visually – balance, weight, proportion, the way the fingers encounter a surface, and how the object sits in the hand.”

Rather than prescribing a visual language, the project invited an exploration of form, ergonomics and identity, and challenged Coetzee not just to create a miniature piece of architecture, but to explore how an architectural design process might inform an object held in the hand. “In architecture we think about the relationship between the body and space: how someone approaches, enters, moves through and occupies a building. With the vessel, that experience is compressed into a much smaller scale. Instead of the body moving through space, the hand moves around the object,” he says. “In a sense, this project became an exploration of what happens when ‘architecture leaves the building’.”

Finding form

Nature is one of Aqualis’s core values, and that became an important influence on the exploration of form; however, Coetzee and the team were not interested in creating a literal reproduction of a natural form. “We were more interested in the qualities and logic of natural forms and geometries – their balance, irregularity and sense of having logically evolved rather than having been assembled from a series of predetermined parts,” he says.

The ritual of fragrance was equally important to the physical form. “This isn’t an object that is simply looked at. It is picked up, held, opened and ultimately brought into direct contact with the body through the act of wearing the fragrance. That creates a very intimate relationship between the object, the hand and the wearer,” he adds.

When early sketches couldn’t quite capture what Coetzee and the team were looking to achieve, they changed gear and turned to clay as a way of thinking through the problem. “We knew that the object needed to have a special relationship with the hand, but it was difficult to truly understand that relationship through two-dimensional drawings,” says Coetzee. The move to clay also allowed the team to explore the object physically. “Questions of balance, ergonomics and the relationship between the hand and the form became much more immediate. Some of the initial explorations were simply quite ugly; crude and bonelike, but they served well in this process,” he says. “It reinforced something that is true of architecture as well: sometimes the most appropriate way to understand a problem is simply by making.”

A matter of glass

The transition from clay concept, digital refinement and prototyping to glass manufacture introduced a new set of challenges. “The digital model allowed us to translate what we had discovered physically into a precise geometry and then test it physically by means of in-house prototyping through 3D printing. But when we reached manufacturing, the material introduced another set of conditions and limitations. Tooling, tolerances and production techniques all became part of the design process, which was resolved largely by means of prototyping by the manufacturer, Continental Bottle,” explains Coetzee.

“What was interesting was that the manufacturing process didn’t simply force us to compromise the design. It became an extension of the design process itself. We had to understand what was fundamental to the original idea and where the manufacturing process could legitimately influence the final form and materiality,” he says. “There was certainly a degree of letting go, but it was less about abandoning the design and more about allowing the material and manufacturing process to participate in it.”

The geometry of the vessel, pushed beyond conventional expectations of glass production, required close collaboration between the studio and the manufacturer to preserve the integrity of the original concept. “The project reinforced the importance of understanding the behaviour of a material rather than simply imposing a geometry onto it,” says Coetzee. “What you design digitally is therefore not quite what you ultimately see. Once the geometry becomes glass, light becomes part of the object and begins to alter how its form is perceived. Glass reinforced how sensitive a relatively small object can be to very small changes.”

The commission reinforced an observation familiar to many designers: every project finds its own process. Sometimes ideas begin with drawings, sometimes with digital models and, sometimes, through making. The method is never a philosophy in itself, but simply the most appropriate way of understanding the problem. “For us, the vessel therefore became more than packaging. It is the first physical encounter with the fragrance – before the scent itself is experienced,” says Coetzee.

Perhaps the most unexpected outcome of the project was the mirror it held up to the studio’s own architectural work. “The scale is completely different, but the fundamental question is surprisingly similar: how does a person physically experience the thing we have designed?” reflects Coetzee. “In hindsight, the process made us reflect more about our own practice of architecture and how our buildings could better respond to people through their tactility.” steynstudio.com | @steynstudio

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WORDS Martin Jacobs PHOTOS Philippe Garcia, Dorothée Demy, Contstance et de Tourniel, Supplied

“The plan is the generator,” wrote French architect Le Corbusier just over a century ago – a principle that feels quite apt in 2026, a year defined by flux, uncertainty and improvisation. Although he was writing about architecture, Le Corbusier’s words could just as well describe French textile house Pierre Frey’s latest collection, Jardin À La Française. A masterclass in structured beauty, the collection of more than 30 fabric and wallpaper designs and 14 rugs (conceived before this year’s global chaos) turns the geometry of formal French gardens into a welcome antidote to disorder. And for those curious enough to explore the details, the collection is renewing interest in classic French gardening terms: from parterres and palmettes to espaliers and orangeries, you may find yourself reaching not only for swatch books but for a dictionary too.

Coloured pencils and paintbrushes were the tools of choice for Pierre Frey’s design team, who drew inspiration from visits to formal gardens in and around Paris, as well as across France. It’s easy to picture the team en plein air – modern-day Impressionists, really, sketching dappled light on pathways, tree-lined avenues and colourful flowerbeds, with birdsong providing the soundtrack rather than AirPods. Back at the Rue des Petits-Champs studio, these sketches were reimagined as textiles and wallpapers, most of them rigidly geometric and structured, although some – like Les Peupliers Argentés, Fleurs de Pommiers and Bois Dormant – remain more painterly.

But the team didn’t stop at what they could see: with centuries of garden history at their fingertips, they dove into the National Archives, unearthing (pun intended) inspiration from the source. Housed in the Hôtel de Soubise, the Albums de Marly are four leather-bound volumes dedicated to the gardens and architectural plans of Château de Marly – a private satellite residence of the Palace of Versailles, and where Louis XIV spent the later years of his reign (from the 1680s onwards). Here, the Sun King sidelined his preferred garden designer, André Le Nôtre, in favour of Jules Hardouin–Mansart, an architect with a fresh perspective on the estate’s layouts. These historic plans – so well documented and preserved that their colours served as inspiration for the fabric collection – inspired three standout designs: Les Allées de Marly (highlighting primary axes and perspectives), Domaine Royal (a play on overall views in an almost. Inception-like, perspective-bending way), and La Pépinière (a grid-like repetition of trees documented in the albums).

Pierre Frey’s creatives approached the collection much like architects Le Nôtre and Hardouin-Mansart would have when planning formal gardens. The symmetry of parterres (ornamental planting beds) is translated into mirrored motifs; the axes that dictated central lines are reimagined as bold horizontal and vertical elements; and terrasses (elevated viewing points) lend themselves to patterns that feel aerial or perspectival. Sculpted greenery like topiary turns into stylised conical and rounded forms; flattened espalier plantings are rendered as graphic patterning; and bodies of water emerge as moments of pause within otherwise rigid grids.

The narratives and varied designs of the collection cleverly merge botanical studies, historical garden plans and illustrative artwork. In both the gardens and the textiles, abundance, romance and emotion are kept in check by order and control. Perhaps that’s what makes the collection feel so relevant in 2026 – not as an escape from chaos, but as an assertion that when there is a plan, beauty doesn’t diminish: it thrives. | pierrefrey.com

Visit the Gardens

Planning a trip to Paris? Set aside a day to explore the gardens of the Palace of Versailles and Château de Marly, both directly referenced in Pierre Frey’s Jardin À La Française collection. Situated seven kilometres apart, the parks are open to the public year-round, with both free and ticketed sections. The official Palace of Versailles app is a useful visitor resource. | chateauversailles.fr

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Above the stone island, fabric became form. Layered, tensioned and illuminated from within, a custom light installation introduced an unexpected softness to nuuma ’s showcase at Decorex Johannesburg 2026.

Created specifically for the show, the piece responded to the kitchen beneath it. Its scale related to the island and the generous height of the surrounding architecture, while its organic shape contrasted with the precision of cabinetry and stone. Concealing the light source allowed the fabric itself to carry the glow.

That relationship between apparent weight and lightness became a compelling way to read the installation. Stone grounded the composition; the suspended fabric drew attention upwards without making the kitchen feel secondary. Rather than adding another hard-edged element, it brought a different material sensibility into the space.

The N30 kitchen range formed the centre of the installation, which received Best Overall Stand. Rooted in an earthy palette and a welcoming material language, N30 provided a considered foundation for this exploration. Textile weave glass introduced a finer texture alongside the broader gestures of fabric and stone.

Rounded cabinetry and softened architectural corners found an echo in the fabric overhead. The repetition of curves established continuity across different materials and scales, while integrated lighting drew attention to the quieter textures below.

This was less an exercise in designing a statement fitting than in resolving the space around an island. The light mattered because of what surrounded it – and because of the atmosphere it helped create.

For the South African kitchen design brand, the installation expressed a broader position: a refined interior depends on relationships between materials, not simply the selection of individually beautiful finishes. Even an expressive element can belong to a restrained composition when its proportion and purpose are clear.

Explore nuuma’s approach to modern luxury kitchens at its Bryanston showroom campus in Johannesburg, where fully realised environments bring these material relationships into focus. | nuuma.co.za

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Courtesy of Dulux

An ethereal, soft green shade, ‘Soulful Sage’ – Dulux’s Colour of the Year 2027 – has been designed to boost the mood of any room in your home.

Sitting at the heart of three carefully curated colour stories, Soulful Sage perfectly captures the mood for 2027, according to the results of Dulux’s annual trend forecast, run by AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center.

“Our 2027 Colour of the Year is all about creating lighter spaces for a lighter life,” explains Heleen van Gent, creative director of AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center. “Many people are feeling weighed down by world events and overloaded with information. We want to offer consumers a way to create lighter environment so they can feel that weight lifted off their shoulders.”

The three colour stories centred around ‘Soulful Sage’ – Glow, Light and Lift – offer a harmonious, versatile palette that works in any room. “Glow is focused on earth tones to create a warm space, Light combines quiet, pale tones and darker shades for more of a healing space, while Lift features positive tones that evoke the joy of an inspiring space. And at the centre of it all is Soulful Sage – the ultimate versatile green,” explains Heleen. | dulux.co.za

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WORDS Neyani Mphephu PHOTOS Supplied (Zani Alberts), Shaun Wagne, Inge Prins (Ashleigh Lloyd), Georgia Dorward, Supplied (Karlien van Rooyen), Supplied (Sinegugu Ngxongo), Francis Marais (Mpho Vackier), Supplied, Inge Prins (Thabisa Mjo), Supplied, (Naledi Modupi), Suly Khan (Bonolo Chepape), Supplied (Keabetswe Seema), Sune van Tonder (Tanisha Neill)

South African women have always been problem-solvers – within homes, communities and cultures. That same ingenuity drives established and emerging designers and artists whose work is rooted in lived experience, heritage and emotional depth. The result is work that speaks from a specific place, earning them recognition at home and abroad.

Here, 10 South African creatives reflect on the ideas, experiences and beliefs behind their practices.

Zani Alberts

Co-founder of DEFT Studios in Gqeberha, Zani is a furniture designer and maker who came to the craft through architecture. She and her business partner, Martin Tallie, established the studio in 2020. Her distinction lies in closing the distance between designer and maker. “There’s a real proudness that comes with being part of the physical fabrication of furniture,” she says. “Not a lot of women are willing to engage in that physical realm of production. For me, design doesn’t happen at arm’s length – it happens on the workshop floor, while it’s being built.”

She believes South African design already meets international standards, and that smaller, more considered workshops frequently produce exceptional work. “Design has become more playful, more expressive, more willing to experiment, and that’s the part I’m most excited to see grow,” she says. “The next generation seems less interested in permission. What I’d really like to see alongside that is more local production. Please stop importing. We have the skill and we have the makers, so the pieces may as well be built here.” | deftstudios.co.za

Ashleigh Lloyd

Founder of Studio Lloyd in Cape Town, Ashleigh creates handcrafted, large-scale sculptural lighting she describes as “future heirlooms”. Being a first-generation South African has shaped her conviction that local design can stand confidently on an international stage. Her move into bronze reflects an instinct for permanence – objects that carry the marks of making and grow into their own histories. She sees a generation moving beyond trends towards work that is “highly individual, technically ambitious and made to last”, and wants South African design recognised “not because it is ‘South African’, but because it is simply exceptional”. | studiolloyd.com

Karlien van Rooyen

Karlien’s ceramic practice emerged from hardship: homelessness, gender-based violence and chronic illness. Each vessel she makes stands as what she calls “a determined and dignified declaration of our personal and collective ability to endure”. Trained in medical science and shaped by years of environmental activism, she sees South African design’s future defined by “uncompromising depth, textural integrity, and grounded social innovation”, with rural materialities elevated globally “not as exotica, but as authoritative voices”. | karlienvanrooyen.com

Sinegugu Ngxongo

Founder of Bambizulu, Sinegugu grew up watching women solve problems for their families and communities. “If something solves a particular problem while also bringing beauty into the solution, for me, that is a tick,” she says. Working with rural artisans in Hlabisa, she speaks of design’s “limitless possibilities” and the responsibility they carry. “I would love to see a future where technology and innovation don’t replace that human knowledge, but help us strengthen it.” | bambizulu.com

Mpho Vackier

Mpho founded TheUrbanative, a furniture and product design studio in Johannesburg, in 2016. She approaches design through cultural interpretation. “It has never been about reproducing those references literally, but about understanding them, interpreting them and allowing them to exist within a contemporary design language,” she says. She sees a shift away from the need to “explain or prove its Africanness”, and is excited by African narratives joining the wider contemporary design canon rather than being viewed merely as inspiration. | theurbanative.com

Thabisa Mjo

Founder and creative director of Mash.T Design Studio in Johannesburg, Thabisa stumbled into design in 2015 when she entered the Nando’s Hot Young Designer Talent Search and won with her Tutu 2.0 pendant light, inspired by Xibelani skirts worn by Xitsonga women. She describes South African women as “collaborative, enterprising, and problem-solving” – qualities she sees as directly transferable to design. “The aesthetic is a result of an approach, a perspective,” she says. “The most interesting design and designers are those with a perspective, and I think that’s what the next generation of really stand-out design will be defined by.” | mashtdesignstudio.com

Naledi Modupi

A Johannesburg-based visual artist and illustrator, Naledi is best known for semi-abstract portraiture that celebrates the beauty and individuality of Black women. Her distinctive style pairs continuous lines with bold, vibrant colour, moving between digital and traditional media. Naledi uses colour as her primary language, telling stories about women with vivid, expressive palettes that feel gentle and confident at once. “I don’t see gentleness and boldness as opposites; I think they can exist beautifully together,” she says. She is energised by the way South African women are asserting their place in the conversation, and excited by the breakdown of boundaries between art, illustration and design. “I’m seeing more and more women coming through, creating their own visual language and making their mark.” | naledimodupi.co.za

Bonolo Chepape

Founder of the textile and lifestyle brand Lulasclan, Bonolo treats pattern as a storytelling tool. Her work has appeared on Nando’s restaurant facades, in Mr Price Home collections, and in the rain | VISI collection, which launched in August. “At the core of my practice is an ongoing exploration of mark-making and pattern as a language that connects people, disciplines, and places,” she says. “I find my tribe in women who choose to remain joyful and full of colour despite sometimes serious working environments.” That generosity of spirit shapes her design thinking too: “My thinking always leans on creating space for women to embrace every part of themselves, their strength, softness, ambition, joy and individuality.” She sees the future of South African design as many voices at once. “It is about allowing many perspectives to exist simultaneously and, through that diversity, creating something distinctly our own.” | lulasclan.com

Keabetswe Seema

Keabetswe works across collage, photography, sound, mixed media, printmaking and installation. She sits at the juncture of Afro-surrealism, Afro-futurism and Black feminist thought, constructing layered visual worlds that collapse archival, personal and imagined narratives. Raised in a matriarchal household, she foregrounds Black women to restore their agency. “They take centre stage time and time again in order to preserve and shift the dominant narratives that have marginalised them previously,” she says. She is excited by immersive world-building: “less items simply on the wall but active embodied engagements from the audience with the art and/or design.” | @_keaseema

Tanisha Neill

A furniture designer, Tanisha grew up surrounded by South Africa’s diverse landscapes and credits her mother’s instinct for interiors as a formative influence. She entered the industry at a moment of growth, with platforms like Cape Town Furniture Week and Design Week South Africa opening new doors for emerging designers. “The more designers look inward, understand their own perspective and build from there, the more distinctive and exciting South African design will become,” she says. Her advice: “Don’t wait until you have the perfect brand, the perfect plan or all the answers.” | nish.design

What connects these 10 women is a shared instinct to look inward before looking outward. Each studio, each practice, each piece is a statement about where South African design has come from and, more importantly, where it is capable of going.

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The post Rooted in Place appeared first on Visi.

WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied

Founded by Peter van der Post in 2014, Indigenus is well known for its bespoke planters and collaborations with renowned local and international designers such as Laurie Wiid, SAOTA, Andile Dyalvane, Haldane Martin and Yabu Pushelberg.

Their latest collaboration, the Stellar collection, is with Zizipho Poswa, an internationally recognised South African sculptor and ceramic artist – and is one of their largest to date in terms of scale.

“We wanted a planter design with an anchoring soulfulness that Africa brings, and Zizipho was the obvious choice for us, especially given the beautiful large-scale pieces she has been creating more recently. The shape we were interested in was also very present in her work, so it seemed like a natural fit,” says Indigenus.

Zizipho, best known for her monumental ceramic and bronze sculptures that celebrate African womanhood, cultural heritage and ancestral knowledge, brings a unique textural element to the new collection.

“By shaping contemporary planters from the silhouettes of African traditional beer pots as a sanctuary for growth, these pieces carry forward both the communal warmth of my heritage and my mother’s love for nature,” says Zizipho.

“We believe that texture and evidence of handwork are becoming more important in design, so this offered us the opportunity to combine these elements and simultaneously stretch ourselves to create a handmade, textural planter that was repeatable in production,” says Indigenus.

The calabash-shaped Stellar has a distinctly African aesthetic but feels universal, making it ideal for hotels and resorts, game lodges, and anywhere surrounded by natural beauty.  | indigenus.co.za

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Open Doors Collective

Pineapple House Boutique Hotel – a 14-bedroom boutique hotel in a restored 1920s Victorian house in Sea Point – is known for its distinctive, character-filled interior that celebrates colour and craftsmanship.

From the outset, owners Les and Rupert Sykes worked closely with South African makers, artists and suppliers, filling the hotel with pieces that feel collected and thoughtfully curated rather than simply decorated. And it wasn’t long before guests began asking where they could buy the inspired decor pieces.

What started with making selected pieces from the hotel available to guests soon developed into something far greater. “We did not set out to open a shop. We built the hotel around pieces we loved and the work of talented makers, and guests kept asking if they could take a little of it home. At some point, we realised that idea had legs for something even bigger,” says Les.

That idea eventually grew into Pineapple House Interiors: a richly layered collection of bespoke furniture, authentic Indian block-printed textiles and handcrafted pieces that gives people the opportunity to take the hotel’s aesthetic and the stories behind its pieces home with them.

For Les and Rupert, the story behind a piece is as important as the piece itself. They want customers to know where something comes from, where its journey began, who made it and the craft and traditions that went into creating it.

“We want people to know the story of what they are bringing into their homes,” says Les. “Where did it start? Who made it? What hands has it passed through? When you understand the journey of a piece, you form a completely different connection with it.”

That sense of discovery runs through Pineapple House Interiors. Rather than simply presenting a collection of beautiful objects, Les and Rupert share the people, places and processes behind them, allowing customers to understand the provenance of each piece and, ultimately, continue its story in their own homes.

“Pineapple House Interiors is for people who notice the small details, the people who want to know where something came from, who made it and how it was created,” says Les.

Pineapple House Interiors brings that same approach to a wider collection, combining bespoke furniture, statement pieces, custom joinery, soft furnishings and upholstery with authentic Indian block-printed textiles and handcrafted objects.

Pineapple House Interiors is now open at The Palms in Woodstock. pineapplehouseinteriors.co.za | @pineapplehouseinteriors_ct

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WORDS Amy Rusch PHOTOS Jan Ras

Choosing these objects was easier than I’d imagined. They are belongings; I belong to them, and they belong to me. We inhabit the same living and making space. Each is a porthole of access to family, to memory, and to a sense of awe in relation to the living world. Many of the pieces were made, held, worn or formed long before my birth; in many ways, they have added to how I’m able to be who I am. They are valued beyond measure.

Bezoar Stone

Two days aft er my paternal grandmother Sunray passed away, my dad and I went to visit her sister, who said to choose anything from her home, saying she no longer needed “things”. I was immediately drawn to this round stone – which, once I held it, I realised was not a stone at all. Smooth and much lighter, it’s a bezoar stone – a hairball from the stomach of a goat from the family farm. Historically, bezoar stones are thought to have healing properties. A bezoar could be worn as a charm, ground into powder and consumed, or dropped into a drink that’s suspected to contain poison. They can be found in the stomachs of goats, oxen, snakes and porcupines. I feel incredibly grateful to be the custodian of this magical, mystical ball.

Bird-call Instrument

Just before my god-daughter Kino was born, my dad spent several days making and perfecting two little instruments made of wood harvested from a searsia tree growing in the garden. The correct amount of friction and rosin [pine sap resin] makes the wood call out like a bird. One instrument was given to Erin and Nic as a gift for the soon-to-be-born Kino – and in an uncomplicated moment when my dad walked me to my car that same afternoon, he handed me the second instrument. I was very moved.

Ancestral Threads

Receiving the first cotton threads on wooden bobbins from Nouchi, my maternal great-grandmother, was a catalyst. I began experimenting with these threads in high school; they were the access point to a form of expression mark-making using the thread line and imprint. I now have a collection of inherited threads from both sides of the family – a daily material access point to the female makers in my family.

Nana’s Chair

I inherited these chairs from my maternal grandmother Nana. I made new canvas covers for them, and replaced the worn arm strapping with blue rope. I have memories from childhood of these chairs in my grandmother’s home; of family members at the table. I love that they’ve held bodies, conversations, gatherings; that they’ve held family around a table in celebration… and in disagreement. They hold the potential to keep holding, and have been my studio chairs for 10 years.

Ammonite Fossils

These ammonite fossils were given to me and my sister when we were kids by John Parkington, my mother’s stepfather and a professor of archaeology. They are a connection to deep time, to life’s changing cycles, and to archaeology. They are reminders of continuous change, and how matter that feels permeable and fluid can change form, becoming stone under the right conditions. They feel like a starting point from all the way back to my present interest and work in archaeology.

Stone Pine Lino Print

This lino print was given to me by my maternal grandpa Marc, years before he passed away. On the day he passed, I sat watching the evening light change to darkness, the stone pines and the mountain turning from pink to orange to blue, and then to darkness. This is an image that transports me to a memory of a life’s transition – what it means to live a full and present life.

Twin Fish Quilt

My mom made this quilt 37 years ago while pregnant with me. They are the first transmissions I received through her womb – of working with hands and threads; of making in preparation for my birth. I feel that, in some ways, this piece is an early waypoint on the path towards my way of making now. This blanket holds so much of me and who I’ve become. It’s beautiful, and practical, and full of deep symbolism.

Rock Pots

When gardening with my mom about seven years ago, digging in the earth I came across two rocks with holes in their centre. After a good scrubbing, it became clear that these were pottery pieces made by my grandmother, Nana, in 1976. There was something wonderful about finding them buried in the soil in my parents’ back garden – it felt like digging up treasure in a miraculous moment of discovery. There’s still soil that spills out of their centre holes.

Wind Rose Wooden Sea Kayak

Building Wind Rose felt like a rite of passage – a return to tactile, slow and meticulous making. Working on and off, it took me three years to build her, and it was this process that slowly shifted me closer to finding voice, allowing my making way to surface, and trusting that things will find their place in time – and that time is not linear. She was a transition marker, a guide, and a process of learning wooden boatbuilding from my father. Our kayaks – Little Leaf and Wind Rose – are built from the same plans, but slight adjustments that I made to the keelson and the cockpit coaming (the raised rim around the cockpit) make them different. Wind Rose has allowed me to follow ancestral threads of connection to the ocean, seafaring, boatbuilding and navigation. Both boats are built of 3mm Japanese marine plywood, with an Oregon pine keelson, coaming and gunwales.

Nutshell Sailing Boat

My dad built two little wooden nutshell sailing boats during my mom’s pregnancy. I learnt to sail in these boats – they were the porthole and my first interaction with sailing, working with wind, and the craft of wooden boatbuilding. Like the quilt my mom made while I was in utero, I feel that my dad’s process of building these wooden boats transmitted towards a growing Amy. As physical objects, they have been a practical access point to ancestral seafaring, navigation, and interaction with the ocean, rivers and lagoons – but symbolically, they hold so much more. Through both the Twin- Fish quilt and this pair of nutshell sailing boats, I feel very strong ties to who I am in the present, today. | @amy.rusch

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PHOTOS Supplied

For many, a well-made home has more meaning than meets the eye. It creates a space for memories, for creativity and inspiration, for community. A home sets the tone, and the pieces that fill it tell the stories. It’s exactly why Pedersen + Lennard has opened the doors to its first Johannesburg store in Parkhurst.

Since day one, Pedersen + Lennard’s founders, Luke Pedersen and James Lennard, have stuck by their motto: “build a good, honest business that employs a decent number of people and creates really well-built pieces”. Eighteen years on, from a single workshop in Cape Town, they’ve done exactly that, and so much more.

Extending the brand’s home to the Johannesburg community – and meeting them where they are – therefore felt not only natural, but essential.

This year marks two milestones for the design collective: eighteen years of considered design, and a new chapter north of the Cape – one that finds its home at 62 6th Street, among Parkhurst’s leading design and lifestyle names. | pedersenlennard.co.za

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The most human-centric offices share a common architecture of beliefs. From the materials chosen to the way space flows, each decision contributes to an environment that puts people first.

For Trend Group, office interior design-and-build specialists with studios in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, London, Dubai and Cairo, creating spaces that work for people is both philosophy and practice.

Trend Group brings design and delivery together, giving clients the flexibility to engage the studio for a complete Design and Build solution or to work alongside their own Design Team. Either way, clients receive one accountable team and a dedicated single point of contact from first conversation to final handover. Working alongside architects, interior designers and professional teams, the studio functions as the trusted delivery partner behind some of Africa’s most considered workspaces – managing the complexity of project coordination, construction and fit-out to carry the vision through from concept to completion.

Four key principles help define a working environment that people genuinely want to spend time in:

Sustainability

Sustainable thinking starts at the design stage, with decisions around orientation, natural light, energy use, material selection and the efficient adaptation of existing space. It then carries through into the build, from responsibly sourced, durable construction materials to waste reduction during installation and careful consideration of how the space can evolve. Sustainability is not a final layer added to a project, but something embedded in the thinking from the outset.

Culture

Brand culture is expressed through the way a space feels, functions and brings people together – from the materials and spatial hierarchy to the environments created for collaboration, focus and connection. A thoughtfully executed design reflects how an organisation actually operates and what it values – and the workplace, in turn, becomes a genuine expression of its culture.

Connection

People need different environments for different tasks throughout the day, which is why people-centred office design prioritises flexible working environments – from café-style spaces that invite collaboration to focus zones that support deep work without interruption. This reflects a broader shift away from corporate minimalism towards a sensory, hospitality-driven aesthetic. As a result, offices are becoming layered, textured and emotionally supportive spaces that feel genuinely comfortable to inhabit.

Atmosphere

One of the most significant shifts in office design is the incorporation of biophilic design principles. Natural light, greenery and acoustic solutions are no longer treated as decorative add-ons or post-design afterthoughts. Working in conjunction, they boost not only staff productivity but also employee well-being.

For Trend Group, this is the purpose behind every workplace it designs and delivers: creating environments that respond to the people who use them, support the way they work and reflect the organisations they represent. Because the best workplaces aren’t simply built for work – they’re built for people. | trendgroup.co.za

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