Designing a Lodge Suspended Between Heaven and Earth

DESIGNING A LODGE SUSPENDED BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH Set on the edge of the Great Rift Valley overlooking Kenya’s Maasai Mara, 300 metres below, Angama Mara delivers an innovative approach to lodge design, while at the same time staying true to what guests expect when going on safari. Built and opened in 2015 by Nicky Fitzgerald and her late husband, Steve, Angama Mara needed a distinctive look that took full advantage of the dramatic views. Angama Mara’s tented suites and guest areas were inspired by the views and historical connection to the film ‘Out of Africa’. “Angama Mara has an emotional effect on our guests. It has an almost dreamlike quality of being somewhere between heaven and earth. Guests instantly connect with the romance of the setting, where some of the loveliest scenes from the movie, Out of Africa, were filmed,” says Angama Mara CEO, Nicky Fitzgerald. “Being a stand-alone property and almost always included in an itinerary with other beautiful, classic-style safari lodges, Angama Mara needed to be bold and stand out from the exceptional properties we are paired with,” she adds. Translating this into an architectural concept required the industry’s best, and so the architect duo, Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, who have spent more than 20 years creating many of the most iconic safari lodges in Africa, were brought in for their fifth collaborative project with the Fitzgeralds. Prior to Angama Mara, their most famous design partnership was the world-renowned Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. Describing their vision for Angama Mara, Rech explained that there are two parts to the architectural design: the tented suites and the guest areas. The guest tents, says Rech, are a new version of a classic design. Set right on the edge of the escarpment with an 11-metre floor- to-ceiling glass front, the roof and other three sides are canvas. Each tent stretches over 100 square metres, including the spacious wooden decks. For the guest areas, inspiration was drawn from Nairobi’s Muthaiga Club, built in 1917 and famously featured in Out of Africa. The space is essentially one room entirely wrapped in stacking glass doors and divided by internal columns, floor level changes and distinctive roof features. With Angama Mara being located right in the heart of Maasailand, it was important to draw on local techniques and traditional Maasai brickwork guided the design of the striking cone-shaped buildings that appear to float on the lily ponds surrounding the guest area. “The architecture is powerful and delightful. The monolithic structures emerging and reflecting on the water coupled with the grey-green steel frame interacting with the wooden shingle cone at arrival set the tone for the sophisticated experience that unfolds on all levels,” says Rech. When it came to the interiors, Annemarie Meintjes, deputy editor of South African style magazine, VISI, was the lead design consultant. Her inspiration was drawn from the love story of Karen Blixen and Denys Finch-Hatton from Out of Africa. “The team shared the same clear vision of what the lodge interiors should look like, starting with absolutely no scatter cushions to be seen. Meintjes explains: “We wanted the furniture to hark back to the 1930s when Denys Finch-Hatton took the Prince of Wales on safari across East Africa. It had to have that ‘pack-up-and-go’ feel to it.” From the outset, it was decided that the main colour scheme would be Maasai Red and French Khaki with copper and brass accents. Meintjes worked with South African furniture maker, John Vogel, who created 250 pieces for the tents, including the distinctive handwoven screens, and a further 27 pieces for the guest areas. Central to the design concept was a dedication to showcasing the talent of Kenyan designers, which is why many local signature pieces are featured throughout the lodge, including the wooden recliners in the guest area deck by Marc van Rampleberg from Rample Designs. Another stand out feature of Angama Mara’s look are the Parisian Fermob chairs, a design first created back in the 1930s in the same era of Blixen and Finch-Hatton and a total departure from the usual pioneer-style canvas director’s chair. “Comfort, nostalgia and timeless style – very Angama Mara,” comments Meintjes. “Annemarie tackled the lodge’s interiors with a totally original, disarming, uncluttered and often humorous approach, and together with Silvio and Lesley, created a lodge where every aspect has been lovingly detailed around the guest. We want them to feel both spoiled and completely relaxed when they stay with us,” concludes Fitzgerald. For more information about Angama Mara, watch the signature video and visit www.angama.com. ABOUT ANGAMA MARA: High above the Maasai Mara where some of the most romantic scenes from Out of Africa were filmed, Angama Mara comprises two separate and intimate camps, each encompassing 15 tented guest suites. Built on the edge of the Great Rift Valley on one of the most sought-after sites on the continent, this lodge offers heart stopping views as far as the eye can see. The lodge, helmed by industry veteran Nicky Fitzgerald (formerly of &Beyond), boasts outstanding game viewing 12 months of the year, with private access to the reserve. Inspired by the Swahili word for 'suspended in mid-air,' Angama Mara floats 1,000 feet above the Maasai Mara, where, every morning, hot air balloons sail past the 30-foot-wide floor-to-ceiling glass fronts of each suite. In addition to consistently excellent game viewing, including Africa's Big Five, guests enjoy walking safaris, garden-to-table lunches in the shamba, editing their images in the Photographic Studio a fitness center, a 40-foot-long swimming pool, a curated gallery of African art, clothing and jewelry, and a sun-filled studio where local Maasai women work at beading bespoke items. Angama Mara was named #1 Safari Lodge in the World by Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards 2018. MEDIA CONTACT: Sue van Winsen Email: [email protected] Tel: +27 (0)82 444 9341 .

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