Under The Tree by Arent&Pyke
The African ‘palaver tree’ is a spot the place concepts are shared, tales are instructed, and agreements are reached. Our South African expat shoppers had grown up observing this, and needed to pay tribute to it by planting a big ficus on the centre of their renovated dwelling in Annandale. It turned out to be an acceptable metaphor for what was an unusually natural venture.
In the house stretch of their renovation designed by Welsh + Major architects, Arent&Pyke have been engaged to finish the house with furnishings, ornamental lighting and artwork. “When something’s beautiful on the outside it should be beautiful on the inside too,” says the proprietor. “I wanted it to have warmth and interest, and I needed help working out the personality and soul of the house so we could be true to that.”
The area was “quite grey, quite hard” and so there have been a variety of conversations about lighting. We needed to deliver softness and ambient glow into the areas, introducing Noguchi gentle sculptures. Colours and textures have been charged with the identical activity, so we chosen earthy and heat hues from mustard and chartreuse to forest inexperienced, and selected abaca rugs, woollen blankets, boucle upholstery, Belgian linen and a smattering of cowhide – on the customized ottoman and Cassina LC4 chaise lounge.
The artwork choice wasn’t about filling the partitions: the shoppers needed to attend for the proper items to return alongside, and the sensation was mutual. “It would have been such a mistake to choose everything off one page,” says the proprietor. “We built it up over a period of time in a much more thoughtful way. Arent&Pyke had so much patience!”
Photography by Anson Smart Architecture by Welsh + Major Styling by Claire Delmar Landscape by Sue Barnsley Design