Inside MŪVEK’s New Napier Street Studio

Local multifaceted design studio MŪVEK has expanded into a new space in the Mother City, bringing together MŪVEK’s furniture studio and Chris van Niekerk’s architecture practice – creating a shared environment where design, material, and making continue to overlap.

WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Hayden Phipps, courtesy of MŪVEK

János Cserháti and Chris van Niekerk, the duo behind MŪVEK, were looking for a characterful space that could house both Chris’s architecture studio and the furniture studio without forcing them to compromise. “MŪVEK has never really operated like a typical retail showroom – we meet people, talk with them, and build relationships – so the space needed to feel welcoming and comfortable, almost like an expanded home office, while still being practical day-to-day,” says János.

Located at 24 Napier Street, in one of Cape Town’s most creative neighbourhoods, the new studio serves as the ideal space for MŪVEK to further its creative practice. “It needed to have character, not just a blank shell, and to function first as a place to work,” says János. “The building itself shows its years in a way we really enjoy. It’s not pristine or new, and that’s precisely the point. The patina gives it presence. Our furniture is mostly made in recent years, so there’s a gentle tension between the older bones of the space and newer pieces within it – and that contrast feels right.”

Architecture and furniture have run side by side since the duo started MŪVEK, with the studio’s architectural projects often feeding directly into how the furniture pieces evolve. Many of MŪVEK’s pieces originated from thinking about specific spaces Chris was working on. “The most recent example is his parents’ home, which he has just completed – it sparked several new ideas,” says János.

The new studio is a working space rather than a static one; it provides the perfect set-up for visitors to see the duo’s creative process – the intersection where design, material, and craft meet – in motion. “Models are being tested, materials are being handled, and prototypes are arriving and leaving. Things are in motion – and that’s important to us,” explains János.

Besides serving as a space for prototyping and creating new pieces – including a fully upholstered sofa, which is new territory for the duo, and a new dining chair and table – János and Chris plan to use the new studio to collaborate with artists whose work they admire. “The first of these is a presentation of photographs and sculpture by Kyle Morland, which is currently on show here,” says János. | muvekstudio.com

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