Dakota Design

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Dakota Design

Award-winning international Interior Architecture Design Studio.

26/08/2026

Rustic, characterful, and deeply connected to the bush. Bilimungwe didn’t need reinventing, but rather revisiting.

We worked with what was already there. Shifting layouts, reorienting pieces, and creating better clusters for more intimate gatherings. Carefully chosen fabrics, cushions, and textiles were introduced to bring an understated, lived-in sense of luxury, alongside a few select, timeless furniture pieces that quietly elevated the space without competing with its character. Then one quiet detail became the most talked-about of all — a curated tray of objects collected on walking safaris. Bones, feathers, seeds. Placed where guests gather, to spark conversation about what they’d seen and what to look out for tomorrow.

Small moves. Big atmosphere. That’s often all it takes.

If your property is due for a refresh, let’s talk.

06/08/2026

This is not a drill.

This is three interns about to spill everything about life at Dakota Design.

04/08/2026

The communal spaces are where a lodge truly comes to life. Where the day begins and ends. Where stories are shared, connections are made, and the experience becomes memorable long after guests return home.

KuKaya forms part of The Bushcamp Company’s legendary South Luangwa circuit — the former homestead of Zambia’s founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, reimagined as a first-of-its-kind safari experience. A place that already had soul. It just needed the spaces to match.

We didn’t start over. We started with what was already working, expanding the boma and adding a deck overlooking the river. Then we layered the space with warmth and personality — expressive Ardmore prints, striped piping, handwoven basket pendants casting a soft glow beneath the grass roof, and flashes of lime green that echo the vibrant canopy beyond.

Colour was used not simply as decoration, but to make a large space feel warm, intimate, and alive.

The result is a space that draws guests in and keeps them there. Which is exactly the point.

If your property’s public spaces could be doing more of the heavy lifting, let’s talk.

31/07/2026

Poetry at Irene Village Mall is officially open.

From concept to construction, our team delivered every detail true to the brand — designed to feel effortless, elevated, and unmistakably Poetry.

Come see it for yourself.

15/07/2026

The best retail spaces don’t just sell products. They give people a reason to show up.

For Exclusive Books at Ballito Junction, we designed around community and experience, because in a world of one-click delivery, the space has to be the product. The result was an award-winning store that became a genuine destination.

Nearly a decade later, that thinking hasn’t changed. And if your customers aren’t choosing your space over the alternative, that’s exactly the conversation we should be having.

29/05/2026

Fabiani at Menlyn Park was designed around one idea: the experience of dressing well.

Expanded product displays, a streamlined cash desk, a fitting room podium to view the full look, and a dedicated styling area all work together to create a more considered retail journey.

A curved blue couch in the footwear section adds a moment of comfort and quiet luxury along the way.

Because the best retail spaces don’t just showcase products. They create an experience.

25/05/2026

Good retail design doesn’t stop at the city limits.

Wherever retail happens in South Africa, you’ll find us there. We’re currently on site in Makhado Crossing Mall, bringing the same level of detail and intention as always. Watch this space.

Think you know what’s coming?

22/05/2026

Retail design isn’t always about starting from scratch.

For Cape Union Mart at Mall of Africa, it was about bringing an existing store into the present. The focused refresh included new backpack and footwear walls, updated cash desk, and refreshed graphics, but with considered detail throughout.

The standout detail? A faceted cash desk and backwall that draws directly from the geometry of the shopfront portal, adding a layer of considered design that ties the space together. Timber finishes add warmth and a quiet nod to the natural environments the brand is built around.

Focused scope. Considered detail. A store that feels current, without losing its character.

08/05/2026

More in tune with its surroundings.

Amber Villa at Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge was reworked as an extension of the suite refurbishment, building on the same thinking, just on a larger scale.

Rather than starting over, this was about editing. Pulling things back, rethinking how the spaces connect, and making the overall experience feel more seamless.

Openings were clarified, transitions softened, and the flow through the villa now unfolds more naturally, guiding you from one space to the next without interruption.

Less a collection of rooms, more a continuous experience.

Grounded, immersive, and closely tied to the landscape around it 🌿

07/05/2026

There’s a quiet power in places that hold more than one layer of history.

The Claremont is set in one of Cape Town’s earliest developing suburbs. Once part of the agricultural land along the Liesbeek River, the original building began its life as a private residence, reflecting the Cape’s gradual shift from farmland to residential estates.

But the building itself carries a particularly remarkable legacy.

It was designed by Magdalena Gertruide Sauer, one of South Africa’s first female architects. At a time when the profession was almost entirely male-dominated, she quietly made her mark through work that was thoughtful, contextual, and deeply rooted in place.

Her design for the original home drew on the Cape Dutch Revival style, reinterpreted through a distinctly local lens, balancing heritage with an emerging modern identity.

What began as a private home has since evolved through time but the foundation remains: a building shaped by pioneering vision, and by a woman who helped redefine what architecture in South Africa could be.

This is where the story of The Claremont begins.

Address

Black River Park
Cape Town

Telephone

+27713808295

Website

http://www.dakotadesign.co.za/

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