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Name
Lepogo Lodges / Noka Camp |
Program
Hospitality, Natural Game Reserve |
Size
40,000 sq.ft. |
Location
Lapalala Wilderness, South Africa |
Status
Completed in 2019 |
Concept
Noka Camp is set on an astonishing 100ft clifftop with breathtaking views overlooking the winding Palala River. At night, your sky bed experience provides for one of the most romantic settings you can imagine as you choose to either sleep outside under the stars or inside your stunning villa in unparalleled luxury. The owner’s initial vision for Noka Camp was to design a 12-bed lodge that could be built with a minimal footprint on the existing landscape. It was also important to create its own electricity by solar panels to sustain the lodge operating at the highest level.
Noka Camp is set on an astonishing 100ft clifftop with breathtaking views overlooking the winding Palala River. At night, your sky bed experience provides for one of the most romantic settings you can imagine as you choose to either sleep outside under the stars or inside your stunning villa in unparalleled luxury. The owner’s initial vision for Noka Camp was to design a 12-bed lodge that could be built with a minimal footprint on the existing landscape. It was also important to create its own electricity by solar panels to sustain the lodge operating at the highest level.
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Four 125 square meter villas and 1 family villa are built on stilts resulting in only 1% of a building footprint which is touching the ground. Because of this construction method, the camp can be easily removed / relocated with minimum distractions to the surrounding nature and leaving no scars on the land. To fit within the landscape and maximize the views, the villas are tented tops and glass fronted. The villas are designed to have panoramic views of surrounding landscapes, yet they maintain privacy from the surrounding public spaces. In order to avoid light pollution, all buildings are kept hidden from all major vantage points within the game reserve. No building stands out of the nature, rather blends into the nature. The public walkways are also built on stilts to minimize the impact. Glass bottomed outside decks are provided for the guests to sleep out on effectively suspended over the rocks - something we do not believe has been done before.
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To further enhance the guest experience, the doors and lights are automated so sensors needed to be installed and enough power generated to run them and the other high end functions such as heated pools and underfloor heating. Another of our challenges was how to create enough power but by creating a solar walkway, we could create enough power for the lodge to operate whilst providing guests with shade under the walkway. It also meant we did not need to increase our building footprint in order to ensure we had enough power to operate the lodge. Instead of hiding the solar panels in the back of the house, panels are highly visible to the guests and used as an architectural embellishment. By automating lights, we could ensure the lights were only on when needed and therefore no power was wasted.
Press
Forbes Tecture Mag Architizer Telegraph Top Hotel Design Aspire Luxury Mag |
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