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Cheetah Plains

ARRCC

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Designer
Client
Japie Van Niekerk of New African Developments
Floor area
6500.00 ㎡
Completion
2018

Each Plains House has a private arrival courtyard with covered canopy, an expansive open‐plan lounge, dining and bar space with adjoining air‐conditioned wine room and a private family/media room. These communal living spaces are each surrounded by four standalone bedroom suites, almost large enough to be considered a mini‐lodges in their own right. The bedrooms suites themselves each have a generous open‐plan lounge and bedroom space, plus guest toilet, and a walk‐in dressing room. The bathrooms open directly to the outdoors, offering an exhilarating open‐air bathing experience. 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 and sheets of glass. “The idea was always to redefine luxury and usher in a new language of African design for safari,” says ARCC director of interior design Mark Rielly. “The result is interiors that are at once uniquely African, yet undeniably modern with natural finishes and sophisticated detailing.” A unique sense of place is carried through in the abundant use of locally sourced natural materials and bespoke designs handmade by local artisans. Organic natural forms are abstracted in the patterns, forms, and rhythms of the interior design. The curvature of the black steel flues of the fireplaces, for example, contrasts artfully with the straight lines of the architecture.