A Brackenfell woman’s dream concept house for a desert oasis has landed her third place and R10 000 in prize money at an annual design competition.
The PG Bison 1.618 Education Initiative is aimed at architecture and interior design students, and Kayla van Speyk, 21, received her bronze award at a ceremony in Johannesburg on Thursday October 15.
“This year’s brief required the students to design a dream desert oasis consisting of an ‘Instagrammable’, luxury residence, with entertainment areas and landscaped surrounds, celebrating the basic human needs of eating, sleeping, bathing and socialising, using the four elements of fire, water, earth and air,“ said Nombuso Mwelase, a spokeswoman for the competition
Ms van Speyk is a third-year interior design student at the Independent Institution of Education (IIE Vega) in Cape Town. She said her love for interior design had blossomed from an early age.
“I have always loved architecture, decorating and being creative,” she said.
Her design, dubbed Tankwa Falls, was inspired by a waterfall.
“A pattern was created from the falling water of the waterfall and can be seen throughout the interior and exterior design of the building, creating a never-ending design concept,” she said.
“The structural design of Tankwa Falls was the biggest design challenge I faced, but I experienced so much joy whilst doing it as I knew I designed it myself. I am not an architect student and I do not know much about building design, but I was eager to do something different and totally out of my comfort zone.“
