Tembo Tembo Lodge

Just outside the Kruger National Park, on the banks of the Sabie River, you will find Tembo Tembo Lodge.

But you’ll have to look carefully because here, buildings, like animals, quietly blend into the veld.

Inspired by termite nests and natural dolmens, the lodge with its rammed earth walls and organic colour scheme quietly becomes one with the landscape, offering a luxurious yet laid-back organic escape for its owners.

Designed by Paris-based Studio Asai, in collaboration with a South African team, the property is a sophisticated celebration of the African bush and culture.

“More locally, [rammed earth] is only used for singular walls in the house, thought of as a decorative object,” explained the studio. “For Tembo Tembo, we decided to use it as the main material for the entire house.”

Designed to feel like a “modern safari camp,” inside the property features neutral hues and materials – from sandy to terracotta tones in the dining area and grey-green upholstery on a sofa – an exact colour match to local foliage – to rough-textured wood and stone, including a breakfast island crafted from black Zimbabwean granite and the bathroom lined in a flecked Namibian stone.

This is punctuated with a carefully curated selection of African artefacts and furniture, creating a unique – and utterly stylish – bushveld lair.

Via