Anomien Smith, director of architectural and interior design at Luxury Frontiers, discusses creating a sustainable retreat in southern Africa for our latest TOPHOTELDESIGN exclusive.
In April 2021, Wilderness Safaris successfully reopened DumaTau – and debuted its new sister camp Little DumaTau – overlooking the Osprey Lagoon in the Linyanti area of northern Botswana. Working alongside the conservation tourism operator’s in-house design and development team, Luxury Frontiers reimagined the architecture, while Artichoke lead interior designer Caline Williams-Wynn and Johannesburg-based artist Gina Waldman overhauled the interiors and art across the intimate scheme, which collectively features just 12 suites, a spa, and a dining and lounge area.
The Rewilding And Regeneration Of The Luxury Adventure: Luca Franco, CEO and Founder of Luxury Frontiers. X
The Rewilding And Regeneration Of The Luxury Adventure: Luca Franco, CEO and Founder of Luxury Frontiers. May. 19th, 2021
Luca Franco is the Founder and CEO of Luxury Frontiers, a San Francisco/Johannesburg- based international firm specializing in design, development, and guest experience concepts for upmarket, light-on-earth hospitality structures ranging from tented camps to treetop suites.
Drawing on his passion for transformational travel, re-wilding, and entrepreneurship, Mr. Franco founded Luxury Frontiers in 2011 and has grown the firm with a multicultural team of designers, architects, and eco-resort experts to create truly experiential hospitality structures.
Enter Radical Innovation hospitality design competitions
Dezeen promotion: Radical Innovation is currently accepting entries from professionals and students to its hospitality and product design competitions.
Radical Innovation is inviting designers to submit their visionary ideas for hotel and travel-related projects and offering the opportunity to present the work to a global audience.
Previous winners of Radical Innovation s Professional Hospitality Design competition include 2020 grand prize recipient Luxury Frontiers (top) and first runner up, the Modern Monastery by Indidesign (above)
The platform aims to assist in turning these ideas into reality, help with industry introductions and connect students with scholarship opportunities. Radical Innovation has a legacy of challenging the hospitality industry to think differently, said the competition organisers.
Luxury Frontiers, Wilderness Safaris collaborated on redesign
Luxury Frontiers, the San Francisco/Johannesburg-based international design firm, collectively with Wilderness Safaris, conceived a revitalized DumaTau, a well-known luxury tented safari camp on the Osprey Lagoon in northern Botswana’s Linyanti region. DumaTau reopens this month along with the debut of Little DumaTau, an intimate addition to the safari company’s repertoire, sporting four tented guest suites.
The private lagoon and the abundant wildlife it attracts served as inspiration for the revived DumaTau. In conjunction with Wilderness Safaris’ in-house design and development team, Luxury Frontiers set out to reimagine the architecture, while Câline Williams-Wynn, lead interior designer for Artichoke of Cape Town and Johannesburg-based artist, Gina Waldman, reconceived the camp’s interior design and bespoke art.