5 minutes with

What is the story behind Story, and what is your design ethos?

For us it’s about creating unique and inspiring yet functional spaces for our clients. I love contemporary design but draw inspiration from the past. We often spend months collecting unusual, found objects for projects and a lot of our pieces are custom designed. We are now in the process of drawing on our experience in the hospitality industry to extend into residential spaces.

How would you describe the store, and what prompted its opening?

We wanted to create a multifunctional space that allowed us to interact with a wide variety of people and showcasing a taste of what we have to offer. It’s a studio, store and meeting space. Our goal with design is to engage and enrich the human experience and this space allows us to do that on a more personal and tactile level.

What are South African designers getting right? In what ways do they offer something unique?

Years ago there was an idealisation of anything that wasn’t local. That attitude has definitely shifted, and I think as South African designers we now embrace who we are, our uniqueness, and draw inspiration from our environment. This has led to an incredible amount of talent being exposed. In the creation of our own store, we sourced from South Africa and had all our products designed and manufactured locally.

What inspires your designs and spaces?

They come from a combination of the client’s brand identity and the environment itself. You have to consider what your clients are trying to achieve with a space; the importance of spatial planning to create the right energy and, of course, functionality. Only after considering all these elements do we get to focus on creating beauty — playing with texture, lighting and colour.