Arent&Pyke South African expat clients had grown up observing this, and wanted to pay tribute to it by planting a large ficus at the centre of their renovated home in Annandale. It turned out to be an appropriate metaphor for what was an unusually organic project.

Arent&Pyke wanted to bring softness and ambient glow into the spaces, introducing various Isamu Noguchi light sculptures. Colours and textures were charged with the same task, so they selected earthy and warm hues from mustard and chartreuse to forest green, and chose abaca rugs, woollen blankets, boucle upholstery, belgian linen and cotton velvet to provide thew tactile warmth that was required.

The art selection wasn’t about filling the walls: the clients wanted to wait for the right pieces to come along, and the feeling was mutual. It would have been such a mistake to choose everything off one page, Arent&Pyke built it up over a period of time in a much more thoughtful way.