WORDS Gina Dionisio RENDERS Courtesy of SAOTA

While the annual World Architecture Festival (WAF) is best known for celebrating outstanding architectural and interior projects from across the globe, numerous talks, workshops and presentations also take place throughout the awards week.

One of these was delivered by SAOTA’s Senior Associate and Architectural Designer, Kerian Robertson, who presented Commune – a project that illustrates how design-led strategies can shape cities that are sustainable, connected, and socially vibrant.

Commissioned by the South African Design Indaba, Commune, which was shortlisted in the Future Projects – Civic category, is a transformative intervention in Cape Town’s CBD. The project reclaims a neglected urban site and introduces Africa’s first publicly accessible cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure, crafted from locally sourced invasive eucalyptus. This pioneering approach sets a benchmark for sustainable, low-impact construction while activating the city’s core as a vibrant hub for the creative industry, cultural production, and inclusive economic opportunity.

“Commune is rooted in the city’s broader urban strategy to strengthen pedestrian connections between key public institutions while attracting a diverse audience of locals and visitors,” says Kerian.

The design features layered, adaptable spaces that foster interaction and entrepreneurship. Elevated platforms create dynamic areas for commerce, performance, and social exchange, while sheltered spaces below offer subsidised opportunities for emerging designers, artisans, and food vendors, supporting small-scale creators who might otherwise struggle to gain visibility. saota.com | worldarchitecturefestival.com

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied

WAYST is an experimental collection that demonstrates the design potential of overlooked resources. The pieces, which include a pendant lamp and a side table, are made from discarded rubble collected by Alkaline’s founder, Chelsea Makin, and her husband, Andrew. “Demolition sites are often where materials go to die,” says Andrew. “But what if they became supply chains for design?”

Each object in WAYST begins with what is typically discarded: rubble from demolition sites, fragments from renovations, or offcuts from industrial processes. Rather than sending these remnants to landfill, Chelsea and Andrew reframe them as raw potential. Through casting, shaping, and collaboration, they transform these fragments into objects that carry forward the stories of their origins.

Pendant Light

Cast from reclaimed, crushed brick, the contemporary pendant light features a textured surface that highlights its material origins.

Limited-Edition Side Table

A collaboration with Cape Town–based studio The Minimalist, the limited-edition side table pairs terrazzo slabs – cast by Alkaline from salvaged brick waste – with a raw stainless-steel base fabricated by The Minimalist.

WAYST challenges traditional notions of luxury by elevating reclaimed materials into objects that are bold, tactile, and quietly expressive. As an ongoing project, Chelsea and Andrew aim to expand the collection through new collaborations and materials that preserve personal and architectural histories – crafting sustainable keepsakes that celebrate the beauty of what might otherwise be lost. alkaline-shop.com | info@alkaline-shop.com

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COMPILED BY VISI PHOTOS Armand Dicker, Ant Dan, Karla Muller

Conceptualised by fashion house Viviers and design studio Hoven, and made possible by Cape Wools SA, Wool World was specifically curated for the 2025 Karoo Winter Wool Festival, and hosted in a working shearing shed on Dwarsvlei farm near Middelburg in the Eastern Cape. The immersive, multisensory experience explored the cultural and emotional resonance of wool through the lens of the Karoo’s four seasons, with the cyclical changes embodied in art, fashion, furniture, farming and design.

Called “Beneath Karoo Skies”, Wool World 2025 celebrated the richness, diversity and versatility of South African wool, as well as the community responsible for shaping this fi bre from farm to form. With more than 50 farmers, designers, artists, makers, studios and industry players contributing, it was a living tapestry of South Africa’s creativity.

Set in a functioning shearing shed – where the wool journey begins – the exhibition offered visitors both a literal and a metaphorical walk through the four seasons of the Karoo. Each space was created using natural, locally sourced materials, as well as found objects from the working sheep farm. The exhibition highlighted the versatility and emotional weight of wool, and the vital role it plays in South African heritage – but it was also a tribute to the farm-to-fibre ecosystem.

From the shepherd, shearer, washers and processors, to the spinner, weaver, knitter, felter, designer, artisan and the broader industry, it showed that South African wool is not merely a product, but rather the result of shared effort, skill and deep respect between people and land. Wool World’s goal was to highlight the fact that wool is not just a fibre – it is a symbol of unity, creativity, diversity and sustainability.

The exhibition space included artwork created from donated off cuts by Edition Verso, Leila Atelier, Wrapt Knitwear and Viviers Studio interns.

Now in its fourth year, the 2025 edition of the Karoo Winter Wool Festival drew nearly 2 500 visitors, championing wool’s cultural, economic and environmental value through a packed programme of demonstrations, workshops, exhibitions and speaker sessions. Founded by four dynamic women – Sarah van Lingen, Marlize Moolman, Yolandi Erasmus and Nelmi Uys – who are passionate about advancing the local wool and natural-fibre industry, the festival celebrates education, advocacy and fibre culture. It has become a cornerstone of the fibre community calendar, welcoming artists, designers, craft ers, producers, processors, retailers and enthusiasts from across the country.

This year’s event featured more than 40 wool-focused businesses, and offered a full programme of workshops and talks. One of the highlights was a powerful keynote address by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers, which left the audience with renewed belief in collective action, compassion and hope.

The educational programme covered everything from fibre processing and textile innovation to hands-on crafts. The Boerepraatjies session, hosted in collaboration with the National Wool Growers Association, offered insights into South Africa’s agricultural and wool industries. Speakers addressed topics such as policy, economics and sustainability, before the focus shifted to leadership and social impact. With its message of unity, collaboration and design excellence, Wool World certainly left a lasting impression. | karoowinterwoolfestival.com

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WORDS & PRODUCTION Steve Smith PHOTOS Jan Ras 

You need game-spotter eyes to see Aardts Cabin – the kind that can spot a motionless mountain zebra cloaked in a Karoo landscape. If you possess this model of eyeball, you’ll see both on a koppie outside the Klein Karoo village of De Rust – although you’re more likely to spot the zebra first, such is the way Abrie von Wielligh’s design appears to have emerged from its rocky, scrubby surrounds. It’s a design that caught Airbnb’s eye in 2022 – the concept was one of 100 global winners of their $10-million “OMG!” competition. The rental disruptor chose 100 designs, each receiving $100 000 to facilitate the build, with the proviso it be rented out on Airbnb’s platform for a year. 

“Ag, but ja,” says Abrie dryly. “We ended up a bit short, and had to spend a little more on the construction. You know how it is when you’re building – you think, ‘Why don’t we add this and that…’” And Abrie knows dry well: although he currently lives in George, he’s originally from Namibia. “George is a bit busy and wet for us, so we started looking around for a place to get away. It didn’t make sense to have a beach house, as it’s the same climate as George.” The “we” he’s referring to are his wife Jorika and their two daughters. The family bought the piece of land near De Rust five years ago and, after walking around the property a lot, decided on a location that was hidden from the farmlands in the valley below and allowed them to burrow into the land. 

Aardts Cabin is Abrie’s own design (his day job is furniture-maker), and is inspired by the “earthship” structures built by US architect Michael Reynolds in the 1970s as passive solar earth shelters made of both natural and upcycled materials. It’s an approach the reflects the strong environmentally focused ethic that Abrie brings to his work – and it’s one ideally suited to this arid geography. The only part of the koppie built above ground is the master bedroom; the rest has been hollowed out of the landscape. “The earth was a lot harder and rockier than we anticipated,” says Abrie. “The excavators initially said they’d be here for about five days; they ended up taking a month and a half. It was quite a mission.” 

Thanks to their eff orts, as you enter through a large, round door, you can either turn left to the master bedroom, or right to descend down a curved staircase into the living area and kitchen, with another bedroom attached. Open the living room’s expansive glass sliding doors, and you’ll find yourself in a sheltered semicircular courtyard with a wood-fi red hot tub and an uninterrupted view of the surrounding koppies. 

This organic subterranean shape is one that’s bounced around Abrie’s head for a long time. “I’m not sure where it came from, and I didn’t know how I would use it, until this place. I like organic shapes; you can see it in our furniture – the rounded triangles and pebble shapes.” 

It’s a shape that allows for natural heating and cooling properties too, with the stairs creating a draught as the rising heat flows out of the top entrance. In winter, hot air from the fireplace also moves up, warming the bedroom upstairs. These cooling and insulating properties were one of the main reasons Abrie chose to dig into rather than build on top of. But not everything was planned: “The design changed organically as we built it. One of my things is that you don’t have to figure everything out before you start something. I like to jump in and let things happen. Some people like to see it all planned out before they begin – but if you just jump in, you’ll discover things you would’ve never discovered otherwise.” 

The ceilings are an example of exactly that. Structural integrity and waterproofing required a concrete slab, but Abrie and Jorika weren’t keen on the concrete’s industrial look; neither did they want to hide it with wood cladding. Given the way the ceiling tapers, curves and opens up, straight lines would be off-square no matter how it was laid out. So they added a thin layer of mud underneath the slab before casting, to give it texture. “The idea was for the concrete to flow into the mud’s cracks and look like the veins of a leaf. But then we had a lot of rain, and water seeped all the way through. I like the way it’s worked out.” 

The pendant lights are another example of design by discovery. The day prior to our photoshoot, Abrie and Jorika still hadn’t decided what lampshades to use over the naked Edison light bulbs – but instead of going out and buying something, they tied dried shrub branches around the bulbs. “I hate just buying stuff,” says Abrie. 

When it came to the interior design, the couple did it all themselves. All the furniture is from Meyer Von Wielligh – the brand Abrie co-founded with partner Norman Meyer – while Jorika curated all the softs. The end result is a unique structure and interior space that are very much a reflection of the couple’s creative process. “Using materials that are local and close to you lends itself to a design that’s going to be timeless rather than merely trendy. The materials age with the landscape, and the building blends in.” 

And given that the first thing we spotted when approaching Aardts Cabin was three (pretty chilled) mountain zebra, rather than the cabin itself, it’s safe to say Abrie and Jorika created something that does exactly that. @aardts.co.za | airbnb.co.za | meyervonwielligh.co.za

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WORDS Annette Klinger PHOTOS Jan Ras PRODUCTION Mark Serra 

Architectural salvage – the practice of sourcing materials from demolitions and repurposing them for new builds – can be many things. Sustainable? Certainly: it diverts waste from landfill and contributes to a circular economy. Trendy? Indubitably: adaptive reuse is front and centre in a host of recent award-winning builds. Aff ordable? Not necessarily – at least not in the case of Skaam Cabin, a little sandstone-and-timber bungalow situated on a rocky ledge on the Limietberg mountain. 

Requiring about three kilometres of off-roading after turning off the meandering Bainskloof Pass, the rocky site couldn’t be more off-the-grid if it tried. This remoteness was both a  blessing and a curse for its designer and owner, Wynand Goosen, whose pursuit of a secluded eco-cabin was not without challenges. “Nobody delivers anything here,” he says. “We had to bring everything up ourselves. During the project, I think I drove about 90 000km, and spent about half-a-million rand on diesel – just to get stuff.” 

From the outset, he wanted to use reclaimed materials as far as possible. What this meant was near-constant adaptation of his original plans. “The one thing I’ll never be is a quantity surveyor,” says Wynand, who designed and built the cabin through a process of trial, YouTube and error. “We learnt many expensive lessons – stuff nobody tells you about beforehand.” 

Initially, Wynand wanted the entire cabin clad in timber treated in the Japanese shou sugi ban style. On Facebook Marketplace, he sourced what he believed to be 150m2 of Oregon pine floorboards, but which, during the build, transpired to be 50m2 of planks, many of which had lost their tongue- and-groove joints. With necessity the ever-faithful mother of invention, Wynand came up with a Plan B for the rest of the exterior walls, courtesy of a local peddler with a warehouse full of salvaged goods.  

“I went there to buy mentis grating that had been reclaimed from old telecoms infrastructure, to use for the cabin’s walkways – and then I saw that he had about 2 000 network cable trays,” says Wynand. “I bought a few and experimented with using them as gabion cages, filling them with the sandstone that lay all around the site. It worked so well that we ended up doing it for the entire front facade.” 

The laundry list of reclaimed materials used in the build also includes – but isn’t limited to – rejected steel flat sheets (allowed to oxidise, then treated and used for the roof, window and door shrouds, as well as sculptures); plywood from marine shipping crates (transformed into substructure walls); bamboo floorboards from a former gym (now starring as flooring and an end-grain kitchen countertop); and 3 000 old, damaged bricks that were destined for the dump. While by no means a large quantity of bricks in a conventional build, on Wynand’s site, every single one of the 3 000 made its presence known. “It took a whole day just to bring them up to the site,” he says. “We brought them up 500 at a time, loading them onto a bakkie and trailer down at the main road, driving them up, unloading them, then bringing the next 500.” 

Wynand admits that he severely underestimated the time, logistics and cost involved in building with reclaimed materials – but he nailed his self-imposed brief. As you approach the cabin from the foot of the valley, the sandstone facade is so visually similar to the rocky landscape that it blends almost entirely into its backdrop. Allowing the landscape to shine, the interior – also designed by Wynand – is appropriately spartan, echoing the trifecta of 

materials visible from outside, but in a more polished incarnation. One of his favourite spaces in the cabin is the open-plan lounge with its low-slung five-metre-long bay  window that evokes an observation slot in a very rarefied bird hide. 

“Sitting there, it really feels as though you’re floating in the air, looking out over the river  and mountains,” he says. He also has a soft spot for one of the cabin’s secret features, which is only accessible via a bespoke lift – made with reclaimed steel, naturally. An industry-first, the Fantasy Room is an optional extra for couples who want to add a cheeky twist to their romantic getaway. We could tell you more about it – but you might find yourself feeling a little skaam… | skaamcabin.co.za 

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WORDS Gina Dionisio

This creative community initiative, which initially began as a hobby during the COVID-19 lockdown, is led by a team of 21 women who transform discarded bread bags, VHS and cassette tapes into beautiful, multifunctional items such as shoppers and cushions.

Through their hands and hooks, plastic waste is given new life as stylish, sustainable products that not only reduce environmental harm but also generate income, spark creativity and foster community pride.

One of the first women to join the Re.Bag.Re.Use team is Joana Mnisi. The grandmother has become a quiet yet powerful presence in the group. Armed with patience and purpose, she transforms empty plastic bags into beautiful multi-functional crocheted creations that carry more than groceries.

“Each stitch is a small step towards a cleaner environment,” she says. “When my grandchildren visit, I show them what I’m working on and remind them that waste doesn’t have to be wasted. It’s something we can reuse. It’s something we can learn from.”

Joana’s attention to detail and commitment to excellence set a high standard for the team. For her, the journey is both environmental and personal. She continues to learn new patterns and techniques, proving that growth has no age limit. “I never imagined I would be learning like this at my age,” she says. “Every project teaches me something new.”

Thanks to the generous support of Blue Ribbon, the Re.Bag.Re.Use team has repurposed an astonishing 14,843 Blue Ribbon bread bags from June 2024 to May 2025. This weighs in at just under 104 kg, roughly the weight of a baby elephant. Since the project began in April 2020, they have collectively diverted more than 144,000 bags from landfill, over 1,009 kg of plastic saved. 

“At Blue Ribbon, we believe in creating a better tomorrow through the choices we make today,” says Jenelle Bosman, senior brand manager at Blue Ribbon. “Supporting Re.Bag.Re.Use allows us to contribute to cleaner communities while empowering women like Joana to teach the next generation the value of upcycling and environmental care.”

The Re.Bag.Re.Use team has also collaborated with South African designers such as Ananta Design Studio and has participated in several local design projects. One notable project was Upcycle 2024 – an exhibition focused on turning old office furniture into bespoke art for the workplace.

Together, these 21 women are crocheting change. Their work is proof that upcycling is not only about reducing waste – it creates value, dignity and opportunity in every thread. | rebagreuse.com

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied

Located in Tulum, Mexico, Azulik epitomises the concept of “barefoot luxury”. Surrounded by jungle and overlooking the ocean, the hotel fuses holistic wellness, ancestral traditions, experimental cuisine, art, and architecture into a singular hospitality experience.

Conceived by Eduardo Roth – a self-taught architect, ecologist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur – Azulik’s architectural language, composed of organic forms and natural materials, merges seamlessly with the Eden that surrounds it. Each of the 48 pod-like seafront villas offers a cocooned sanctuary for modern nomads, with palm-leaf roofs, reed-finished terraces, and tropical timber frames, immersing guests in the natural landscape.

At Azulik, nature, art, and ancestral wisdom exist in symbiosis. Inside the villas, hand-hewn wooden furniture and woven textiles pay homage to the rich craft heritage of the region. This focus on ancestral traditions and local craftsmanship is echoed in every aspect of the hotel – from holistic wellness programmes to Aníkena, its boutique showcasing ethically made, fair-trade garments and accessories from local artisans.

Twenty-five kilometres inland, in the village of Francisco Uh May, Azulik’s sister site emerges from the jungle – a biomorphic, ethereal structure that houses the SFER IK Uh May Museum. Also known as the “City of Arts” the space is dedicated to interactive art installations, artist residencies, and workshops, with a focus on sustainability, technology, and spirituality.

Azulik’s culinary offerings underscore its role as a transformative sanctuary at one with nature. With five restaurants serving everything from plant-based delicacies to seafood prepared with indigenous flavours, each dish deepens the connection between guests and the natural world around them. | azulik.com

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Ed Reeve

Cork is truly one of nature’s wonder materials – the flexible yet durable bark is not only sustainable, but offers excellent thermal insulation, and is naturally hydrophobic and fire-resistant, too.

This multifaceted materiality inspired David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group to create “Casa Cork” for Milan Design Week 2025 – an immersive, layered space that invited the global design community to envision a regenerative future. The pop-up was a collaboration between the Rockwell Group, the sustainability-focused non-profit Cork Collective, and Corticeira Amorim – the world’s largest cork producer – which invited the global design community to imagine a regenerative future.

At the heart of Casa Cork was a dramatic centrepiece – a lifelike, six-metre-tall 3D-printed replica of a monumental tree, clad in virgin cork reclaimed from trees that have fallen due to disease or lightning strikes.

Beyond the tree, the space showcased the versatility and sustainability of cork through various design applications. The interior and furnishings were crafted almost entirely from, you guessed it, cork, and featured innovative cork furniture and products by both emerging and established international designers and manufacturers. Highlights included a bespoke chandelier and bar custom designed by Rockwell Group by Artemest; a custom illuminated wall feature, with sconces designed by Rockwell Group and manufactured by Thomas Cooper Studio, a Lusive company; and fabrics, tiles, and wallcoverings from 4Spaces.

Framing the entrance to the bar and tasting lounge inside Casa Cork, was a display that showcases the applications of cork in collectable design. The objects in these vignettes further emphasised the material’s versatility and beauty, crafted by luminaries from the design industry worldwide, including the Campana Brothers, Tom Dixon, Made in Situ by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, Grain, Toni Grilo (Blackcork), Maddalena Casadei (designer), Falegnameria Pisu (artisan) for Pretziada, and Susana Godinho (Sugo Cork Rugs).

The pop-up also played host to a student design competition and a series of talks aimed to educate visitors about cork and sustainable design practices. Featuring prominent figures in architecture and design – including David Rockwell, Yves Béhar, Deyan Sudjic, Suchi Reddy, and Tom Dixon – the talks explored themes related to cork, such as craftsmanship, timelessness, manufacturing, and the circular economy. | rockwellgroup.com

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Slater Studio; Photography by Robynne

The KAAPENHAGEN Design Challenge brought together 10 of Cape Town’s most innovative creatives and designers to reimagine HAY‘s iconic About A Chair AAC 222.

“We’re putting Cape Town’s unique creative pulse at the heart of this challenge,” said Brent Weldon, Director of INOVA Concept Store. “KAAPENHAGEN isn’t just about reimagining a chair – it’s about showcasing how our city’s designers can take a global design icon and transform it through their distinctive creative lens. When we say we’re putting the ‘KAAP’ in KAAPENHAGEN, we’re celebrating the intersection of two design powerhouses: Danish precision and Cape Town’s creative energy.”

Each participant was tasked with pushing their creative boundaries to transform this masterpiece of Danish design, originally created by Hee Welling, into a unique interpretation that bridges Scandinavian heritage with contemporary design sensibilities from Cape Town.

The result? 10 Unique pieces ranging from functional updates to purely conceptual art pieces.

The reimagined chairs were unveiled at INOVA Concept Store on the opening night of Cape Town Furniture Week. The exhibition space was transformed into an immersive design experience, where visitors were encouraged to engage with the works and participate in the public vote. The “people’s choice” winner was announced at the CTFW x VISI Design Prize evening, with Paragon ultimately receiving the honour.

‘You Are Cape Town’

PARAGON

PARAGON transformed the iconic chair into a sculptural expression (and reflection) of the relationship between the city’s landscape and its people. Covered in a mirrored surface, the artwork blurred the boundaries between the self and the surroundings. The base of the piece represented the contours of Table Mountain, anchoring it in the natural world.

Turning the Furniture Industry on Its Head and ‘Shining a Light’ on South African Design

Studio Goodd

Studio Goodd’s installation reimagined transformation, sustainability, and the relationship between nature and the home. Inspired by the question, “What if a chair no longer needed to be a chair?” the studio reinterpreted the design of the HAY AAC 22 chair – quite literally turning it on its head. Transformed into a sculptural floor lamp, its shade encased an exposed halogen bulb, evoking the image of filament-like pollen. The organic, curving frame reflected nature’s aversion to straight lines, while the original chair legs were repurposed into a functional side table, ensuring that nothing went to waste.

Echoes of Cape Town – A Chair of Community

Inhouse Design Studio

Inhouse Design Studio‘s reinterpretation of the iconic HAY design honoured the unity and heritage of Cape Town. Each of the four legs symbolised a chapter in the city’s history, encompassing its ancestral roots, colonial influence, the struggle for liberation, and the vibrant modern spirit that defines Cape Town today.

Amaranthus

Myuzu

Myuzu incorporated two varieties of hanging Amaranthus – Coral Fountain and Green – to transform the chair into a biomorphic-inspired piece. By following the natural curves of the Amaranthus stems, Myuzu seamlessly mirrored the chair’s organic form.

Klopse Blomme

Ananta Design Studio

Inspired by the iconic Kaapse Klopse, Ananta Design Studio reimagined the chair to capture the festival’s dazzling explosion of colour, music, and energy – a vibrant celebration of heritage, resilience, and freedom.

PATCHWORK PROTEA

ATTIK Design

Much like the Mother City, nestled between mountain and sea, ATTIK Design‘s piece embraced the organic, the imperfect, and the interconnected. Inspired by the concept of patchwork, it wove together the layered histories, stories, and textures that define Cape Town.

‘R100 for Everything’ – What if play was the most valuable resource we had? 

The MAAK

The MAAK challenged themselves with a R100 budget and materials salvaged from the local dump. R100 for Everything transformed a single HAY AAC 222 chair into a series of playful objects: a swing, a seesaw, a go-kart, a slide, a noughts-and-crosses board, and a toy push car.

Bursting Ruffles

Sindiso Khumalo

Designer Sindiso Khumalo’s reinterpretation of the chair was a celebration of femininity. Staying true to the sustainability ethos central to the Sindiso Khumalo brand, all the fabric was reimagined from waste materials sourced from their production and transformed into elegant ruffles.

The Thinking Chair

The Detail Smith

The Detail Smith embraced the idea of creating a ‘thinking chair’ – a sculptural, flower-like structure which unfolded, allowing the brain to do its thing.

Akho Bantu 

Lebo Kekana – Artist, curator and director of FEDE Arthouse

Lebo Kekana’s transformed chair embodied a desire to break free from Western hegemony, as reflected in the city’s urban planning. This planning often embraced Modernist aesthetic values, which overlooked the cultural identity of the Abantu people.

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Tomáš Slavík

The upcycled sauna was built as a weekend DIY project when Tomáš Dvořák from ika.architekti decided to give old materials he had lying around a second chance.

“It sounds like hoarding, but when you’re an architect, you can build something out of anything. Pallets, wooden sleepers, cement-bonded chipboard, wool and other second-hand treasures – every piece has its own story,“ says Tomáš. “From these basics, we created a simple sauna concept and gradually gathered more materials—leftovers from friends and other construction projects,” he adds.

In a spacious back garden, the sauna was built on a foundation of sturdy wooden sleepers, with its load-bearing structure made from modular wooden pallets. Inside, the surfaces are lined with reclaimed planks, while cement-bonded particle boards behind the stove improve heat retention. Leftover beams and pallets form the roof, which is slightly angled to help with rainwater drainage.

One of the most innovative aspects of the project is the use of raw, locally sourced sheep wool for insulation. “We manually cleaned the wool of the largest residues left by its previous “inhabitants” (sheep) and stuffed it into the walls and ceiling structure. The inner insulation is covered with mesh and reflective foil, while the exterior is protected by facade foil,” he says.

The exterior features a dynamic wooden grid that supports corrugated fibreglass panels arranged in gentle overlapping layers reminiscent of scales. This gives the structure an organic, tactile appearance that changes with the light. | ka.archi/cs/

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