Architect and Builder December 2019 | Page 96

heated pool. Sculptural raw rusted steel pool pavilions, inspired by the canopy of the local Tamboti tree, filter dappled light through their cantilevered branches. Each house is also equipped with a commercial kitchen with a dedicated chef. The angular or divaricate architectural forms that are the aesthetic signature at the heart of the lodge design were inspired by the Acacia thorns indigenous to the area. The convergent straight lines and expansive cantilevered roof structures of the lodge not only offset the architecture against its setting - a sculptural form or jewel in the landscape - but also frame and mediate the experience of the bush. The open, seamless boundaries between interior and exterior have the effect of immersing guests in their environment rather than placing them on a platform, reduced to mere spectatorship. This architectural response facilitates a much more profound and layered interaction with the environment than traditional lodge design. 96 The fractured arrangement of the buildings also made it possible to retain established trees on the site and build around them, enhancing the lodge’s sense of integration with the environment and allowing to tread lightly on the site. While off-shutter concrete provides straight lines, the creative use of raw materials grounds the design in the landscape and allows the purity of the architectural forms to flow seamlessly from outside to inside. Feature walls built with hand packed-raw Mica, naturally rusting Corten steel and timber elements introduce warmth and earthy, raw textures. The honest expression of these materials, selected to age and weather naturally over time, lends the design integrity and a sense of natural transformation and growth. Where the architecture is pristine and linear, the interior design introduces softness and texture – at times retaining a certain grittiness with rough stone walls, raw concrete, weathered steel Cheetah Plains