Rising from a bed of reeds and nestled in a canopy of wild palms, the twelve suites at Sandibe Lodge, gaze over the pristine and lush floodplains of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. The green credentials of London-based studio Michaelis Boyd Associates and Johannesburg firm Nicholas Plewman Architects, were a natural pairing to safari company And Beyond's sustainable ethos, whose brief required an environmentally sensitive design for the fragile local ecosystem. Matching and exceeding this challenge, the architects created a property inspired by the armoured shell of a pangolin, constructed with local natural and recycled materials. Visual drama is achieved inside with carved timber ‘ribs’ forming each suite’s ceiling, while local crafts are celebrated with sculpted wooden tables, intricate baskets and copper-clad traditional canoes. A private plunge pool and secluded outdoor deck offer ample opportunities for relaxation, though the real draw undoubtedly lies in the teeming array of wildlife in the delta beyond.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Plot 536
Maun
Botswana
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The Stuff That Surrounds, episode three: Inside the home of architect Glenn SestigIn The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. This episode, we’re invited inside an architectural gem – just what you'd expect from one of the most distinctive voices in the field today
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Germane Barnes just transformed a humble Indiana parking garage into an enormous sub-woofer systemWith Joy Riding, the Miami-based designer’s installation at Exhibit Columbus, Barnes celebrates togetherness by evoking Black car culture
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The best Ruth Asawa exhibition is actually on the streets of San FranciscoThe artist, now the subject of a major retrospective at SFMOMA, designed many public sculptures scattered across the Bay Area – you just have to know where to look
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Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico -
Martim — Wroclaw, Poland -
Tattersalls Hotel — Armidale, Australia -
KLoé Hotel — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -
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Littlenap — Hangzhou, China -
Casa Santa Teresa — Corsica, France -
Swedish studio Claesson Koivisto Rune designs K5, a new hotel in TokyoStep inside Claesson Koivisto Rune’s design as a 1920s bank turns hotel
