Cape Town, June 2025 — Continuing a valued tradition established by Yinjispace, SAOTA recently hosted the two Yintour groups of 2025 in Cape Town—a highlight on the local design calendar. The week-long programmes featured presentations by SAOTA, ARRCC, and OKHA, tours of SAOTA-designed homes, and special dinners filled with networking…
Shanghai, April 2025 — SAOTA Founding Partner Stefan Antoni recently took part in two engagements in Shanghai, sharing perspectives on the intersection of technology and human-centred design in contemporary architecture. From 28–30 March, Antoni participated in the 2025 WAD Luxury Residence Design and Construction Summit, held at The Anandi Hotel…
Set within olive groves and palm trees, just beyond Morrocco’s fabled Red City and silhouetted by the High Atlas Mountains, Aman introduces a new collection of private villas. Designed by SAOTA with interiors by ARRCC, the residences integrate Moroccan craftsmanship with Aman’s refined design philosophy. An extension of Amanjena designed…
SAOTA is proud to announce its recognition in the WA100 2025 rankings, securing the 73rd position globally – moving up eight places since 2024. Published annually by the UK magazine Building Design, WA100 ranks the world’s top 100 architectural firms based on the number of fee-earning architects they employ. As…
Project: Lagoon Villa, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Situated at the point where Abidjan’s vibrant cityscape meets the tranquil waters of the Ébrié Lagoon, Lagoon Villa stands as an example of architecture in harmony with its environment. Designed by SAOTA with interior design by Claude Missir, the villa pays homage to Abidjan’s…
Project: Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau In the vibrant heart of Abidjan, where the Plateau region meets the languid sweep of the Ébrié Lagoon, a striking new silhouette has emerged against the skyline. The Noom Hotel Abidjan Plateau, designed by SAOTA, is more than just a luxurious new addition to the city’s…
SAOTA received an award at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2024, for their ‘Meru’ project for the category ‘Future Projects – House’. Considered one of the most prestigious architecture awards in the world, the WAF event spans three days and attracts over 1,500 people to recognise outstanding architecture and design…
Project: Kural Vista, Dubai Looking eastwards towards the Dubai skyline from the G Frond of the iconic Palm Jumeirah, this villa, conceived by SAOTA for developer Alpago Properties, in collaboration with Executive Architects CK Architecture Interiors (also the project’s interior designers and contractors) exudes sophisticated understatement in its unassuming silhouette. …
House Flanders, Belgium This house on a large, wooded lot in the Flanders region of Belgium offered SAOTA an opportunity to design a distinctive contemporary architectural object in the landscape that would simultaneously serve as a warm, outward-looking living environment and engage meaningfully with its surroundings. The principal components of the master plan…
SAOTA is proud to announce the promotion of Danielle Reimers and Dominik George to the Principal group. Danielle Reimers, a native of Cape Town, completed her Master’s degree at UCT, where she received five “Best Student” awards, including the prestigious Corobrik and CIA awards. Her dissertation was among a select…
Cape Town’s SAOTA, alongside US architect developer David Maman and Belgian interior designer Dieter Vander Velpen, designed this Bel Air residence, perched on a steep, triangular site with striking canyon views extending from Century City to the ocean. Inspired by the site’s geometry and orientation, the exterior has a robust…
Architect Philip Olmesdahl, principal at Cape Town-based studio SAOTA, had been living near this site in the city bowl for more than 15 years, admiring it, before he managed to secure it for himself. The timing, however, was perfect. “We needed a more spacious home for my family when the…
Yinjispace, a renowned Chinese design platform, announced an innovative partnership with South African designers to host an exclusive educational and business tour in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. This event was scheduled to take place at the end of October, marking a significant milestone for the design industry….
In the world of architecture, it’s not just about designing buildings; it’s about crafting spaces that tell a story, spaces that blend innovation with personal expression. This dance of architectural artistry and practicality is exemplified in the award-winning Upper Albert Project by SAOTA. Architect Philip Olmesdahl, principal at SAOTA, embarked…
Architecture Open Studios is returning to Cape Town this October, bringing together architects, and built environment professionals in this popular industry event. We’re excited to be a sponsor this year and to welcome you to our studio in Cape Town! Open Studios invites you to see the behind the scenes…
Innovation, collaboration, and inspiration are the cornerstones of SAOTA’s commitment to shaping the future of architecture. During the July university break, SAOTA proudly welcomed a cohort of ten talented students from diverse local and international institutions to embark on a groundbreaking internship program. These young minds, all in the final…
We are proud to announce that two of our projects have been shortlisted as finalists for the prestigious World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2023. Our project, Wuxi Film Club, located in Wuxi, China, has been selected as a finalist in the Future Project Leisure-Led Development category. This project draws inspiration from…
SAOTA, ARRCC, and Poliform are excited to announce their collaboration for the LIGHT SPACE LIFE exhibition at the prestigious Venice Biennale called Time Space Existence. This exhibition, hosted by the European Cultural Centre from May 20 to November 26, 2023, showcases their shared commitment to exceptional design. The Venice Biennale…
Decorex Cape Town 2023 was a captivating event that brought together the finest names in the world of décor and design. Three renowned brands, SAOTA, ARRCC, and OKHA, had the honour of participating as exhibitors, showcasing their creative brilliance through their distinctive stand design. By using immersive content projection, it…
Buffelsdrift in Ladismith, Western Cape, won the 2022 Corobrick SAIA Award of Merit. This prestigious award is given by the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) to recognise outstanding architecture and design. The project is a collaboration between SAOTA and Jaco Booyens Architect. The award was presented to Booyens and…
On Thursday, 3 November 2022, SAOTA opened its doors to 160 architectural students in and around Cape Town and offered a tour of our studio. SAOTA invited Architecture and Architectural Technology students from first year to masters to experience the studio first-hand. Students were given a tour of the…
The SAOTA-designed Palm Jumeirah villa that sold for $82 million (R1.47 billion) is now the most expensive house ever sold in Dubai, Bloomberg reported. Known as Casa Del Sole, the villa is located on Frond G of the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s man-made island that’s shaped like a palm tree. The…
During an emotional day on Sunday 11 September 2022, the first 14 re-built houses at Wupperthal were handed back to the owners. The Institute was instrumental in making this happen. On new year’s eve of 2018, a fire in the small Moravian Mission town in the Cedarberg burnt down many…
SAOTA Principals, Greg Truen and Mark Bullivant were invited to present at the 2022 Designers Architects and Specifiers (DAS) Conference in Cape Town. Principals presented SAOTA projects that were recently shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2022. Mark presented on Starlight, SAOTA’s first project in Arizona, located on…
The Real Estate Discussions and Awards (REDA) 2022 is a two-day conference, exhibition and award ceremony organised by Thinkmint Nigeria. It is centred around discussions, bespoke networking opportunities, and learnings to further improve real estate trends and transactions in the region across the global real estate market. SAOTA Principal Greg…
The Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (India) invited SAOTA Principal Phillippe Fouché to speak at the National Conversation (NatCon) 2022 in Mumbai this past weekend. The two-day conference was held at Sahara Star Hotel in Mumbai with well-known industry experts such as Michel Rojkind from Rojkind Architects, Kai-Uwe Bergmann…
The Corona Open J-Bay is a World Surf League (WSL) event held in Jefferey’s Bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This year, the community outreach programme 9Miles Project gave 20 children the opportunity to attend the surfing event and see their favourite pro surfers compete. Founded in Cape Town,…
her+ perspective is a public participation project initiated in 2019 by a group of South African creatives focused on recovering notable contributions women+ have made to the built environment in the form of a growing digital timeline. The aim is to continue to grow a database of women+ who have…
her+ perspective is a public participation project focused on women+ in architecture and recovering notable contributions women+ have made to the built environment in the form of a growing digital timeline. SAOTA is the proud partner of the her+ perspective exhibition at the upcoming Decorex Africa Reimagined conference in Johannesburg,…
The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is the largest interactive architectural awards programme and festival globally. Three SAOTA designed projects – Buffelsdrift, in Ladismith, South Africa, Starlight in Arizona, USA and project One in Dakar, Senegal – have been shortlisted as finalists for WAF 2022. Buffelsdrift is a working farm that…
At the beginning of June, SAOTA’s LIGHT SPACE LIFE exhibition opened at the Miami Center for Architecture & Design in Florida. The South African Architecture studio partnered with Porcelanosa, Delta Light, and Panoramah! to showcase projects from around the world. The exhibition will run until June 30 and is open to the public from Monday to…
The Corobrik’s Student Architecture Awards announced Mpho Sephelane as the winner on Wednesday, 8 June 2022. The awards programme started in 1986 and is the only competition of its kind that honours the work of Masters architectural students in South Africa. Mpho’s winning project is a conversation starter, memorable and…
Longcheer Yacht Club in Shenzhen, China, was awarded the Silver A’Design Award in the architecture, building, and structure design category. SAOTA was involved in the planning design, and initial design concept of the project and Zhubo Design Group further developed and completed the design. Set on a narrow strip of land between Daya Bay and the…
South African Architecture studio SAOTA presents LIGHT SPACE LIFE at the Miami Center for Architecture in Florida from 01 – 30 June 2022. The exhibition follows the launch of SAOTA’s first monograph. Presenting memorable and distinctive residences selected from its wide-ranging global output, the book celebrates thirty-five years of innovative…
La Reserve, a hotel resort situated on the outskirts of Dakar, was Highly Commended in the Leisure Led Development – Future Project category at The World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2021. WAF is the largest interactive global architectural awards programme and festival, and due to COVID-19, a digital event was held…
SAOTA’s residential project, Kloof House in Cape Town, South Africa, received Silver at the World Architecture News (WAN) Awards 2021 in the House of the Year specialist category. The global WAN Awards celebrates excellent architecture; now in its 13th year, the awards programme recognises the outstanding works of innovative, visionary,…
In recognition of noteworthy contributions to architecture, Buffelsdrift, located west of Ladismith in the arid Klein Karoo region of the Western Cape, has been awarded a 2021 Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA) Award. A collaborative project between SAOTA and Jaco Booyens Architect, a specialist in clay buildings, Buffelsdrift also received…
SAOTA’s project Kloof House took home Gold at the 43rd Annual Loeries Awards, in the Design category for Architecture. Winners were announced during Loeries Creative Week (21 – 22 October 2021) in Cape Town, which welcomed hundreds of creatives from across Africa and the Middle East. The awards programme recognises the…
Three of SAOTA’s residential projects – Kloof House, Beyond and Le Pine – have been shortlisted as finalists in the WAN Awards 2021 in the House of the Year specialist category. The global WAN (World Architectural News) Awards acknowledges and celebrates excellent architecture; now in its 13th year, the awards…
Two SAOTA designed projects – DDS in São Paulo, Brazil and La Reserve in Dakar, Senegal – have been shortlisted as finalists for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2021. DDS is SAOTA’s first project in Brazil and is shortlisted in the House – Future Project category. The design of…
Designed by South African architecture studio SAOTA and developed by Aksoy Holding of Turkey, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bodrum is the first stand-alone branded residences for Marriott International in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. Set on a 126,000 sqm private peninsula, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Bodrum is in Yalıkavak, a…
Kirsch Pharma HealthCare, SAOTA designed factory and headquarters in Germany, was recognised for innovative excellence at the SAPOA Property Development Awards 2020 in the International Development category. The SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence is the most prestigious programme of its kind within the South African commercial real estate…
SAOTA and ARRCC, together with ADMARES, a world leader in alternative real estate, announces their collaboration to create an exclusive high-end floating villa line to be made available to clients worldwide during 2021….
In February 2020, a group of third-year architecture students from the University of Cape Town (UCT) visited the SAOTA Studio. The key purpose of the visit was to expose the students to the day to day tasks and responsibilities of an architect and to share insights on how the business…
To vote for Le Pine, St Tropez, France please click here. To vote for Boma, Cape Town, South Africa please click here. To vote for Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia please click here. To vote for Kloof 145, Cape Town, South Africa please click here. …
SAOTA’s first new-build home in Los Angeles sold for $35.5 million. Commanding a promontory above Sunset Boulevard, Hillside is a 20,000 square foot estate with 300 degrees of skyline city views. Conceived as an oasis in the sky, the home is designed to function as a self-contained resort with living…
SAOTA, ARRCC and OKHA staff rallied together in support of Movember – the annual fundraising event and awareness campaign for men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide. Movember initially started out as an awareness campaign with men around the world growing their moustaches during the month…
SAOTA Director, Greg Truen, was invited to the 2nd Hotel Development Conclave as a keynote speaker and panellist, held at the Radisson Blue in Sandton, Johannesburg at the end of November. The exclusive conclave brings together Investors, Hoteliers, Architects, Interior Designers, Project Management Companies, Construction Companies to name a few….
Downtown Design, a key event at Dubai Design Week, is the Middle East’s leading platform for trade professionals to experience and discover high quality and original design. SAOTA Director, Philip Olmesdahl, was invited as a panellist alongside industry leaders Ferdinand Cheung from LWK + PARTNERS, Dr. Nasser B. Abdulhasan from…
Neuländer Quarree, SAOTA’s concept design for a mixed-use development in Hamburg, Germany was Highly Commended in the Residential Future Project category at The World Architecture Festival (WAF). WAF, the largest interactive global architectural awards programme and festival – was held on 4-6 December 2019 in Amsterdam. Over two days of…
SAOTA Director, Phillippe Fouché, was invited as keynote speaker to the International ETEM Façade Conference this November in Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference is a global forum for the latest façade technologies designed for creative architecture. This year the topic explored the latest trends and solutions in façade engineering design and…
Architectural Open Studios – a Cape Institute for Architecture initiative – forms part of Open Design Afrika Festival’s city-wide celebration of design, hosted from 23 – 27 October. SAOTA, ARRCC, OKHA and Tenebris Lab opened its doors on 24 October offering guests a tour of the Studio while presenting new…
In recognition of noteworthy contributions to architecture, Kloof 119A, located in Higgovale Cape Town, has been awarded a 2019 Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA) Award. The annual CIfA Awards Ceremony was held on Wednesday, 2 October 2019. CIfA is the largest regional architectural body in South Africa and recognises exceptional…
Neuländer Quarree, SAOTA’s concept design for a mixed-use development in Hamburg, Germany has been shortlisted as a finalist for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2019 in the Residential Future Project category. The project was the winning proposal of an architectural competition earlier this year. “What sets this project apart…
On Friday, 12 July 2019, students from Zonnebloem High School visited the SAOTA studio to participate in the SAOTAseed programme. The upliftment programme introduces students to career paths in Architecture, Interior Design, IT, BIM and 3D, Media, Marketing and Graphic Design. Introductions are done through workshops hosted by the different…
SAOTA Director, Greg Truen, was invited as a guest speaker at the Nigeria BuildExpo 2019. Now in its fourth year, the international summit is focussed on construction, building materials, design, and technologies. Organised by Elan Expo, this year’s exhibition was hosted at the end of June at the Landmark Centre…
June 2019 saw the launch of the inaugural WISH Africa Expo 2019 at Olympia London. The expo is a multi-industry showcase of African culture, commerce and development with a mission to promote a more positive image of Africa and Africans on the continent and in the diaspora. SAOTA Director…
In 2018, SAOTA, together with Architects in Association Tanner Kibble Denton (TKD), was awarded at the Trends International Design Awards (TIDA), in the category Australia Architect New Home. Following this, Double Bay has been awarded the TIDA International Home of the Year award. The Trends International Design Awards – TIDA…
The term “pavilion” derives from the Latin word for a “butterfly” and evokes an architecture that celebrates the contrast between permanence and permeance. From the Porch of the Caryatids in the Acropolis – built to hide the visual impact of a very deep temple beam- to the Barcelona Pavilion –…
For the third consecutive year SAOTA is crowned the Architectural Futsal League Champions after beating dhk 5-4 in a thrilling end to end encounter. On Friday, 31 May 2019 over 120 spectators gathered to support SAOTA and dhk in the Architectural Futsal League final at Hellenic Sports Club in Mouille…
On Thursday, 02 May 2019, SAOTA welcomed Delft Technical High School for the first SAOTAseed programme of the year. In its third year running, SAOTAseed is SAOTA’s community upliftment programme; a multi-tiered one-day workshop introducing scholars to careers in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Interior Design, Media and PR, Graphic Design, IT,…
At the 9th International Space Design Award Idea-Tops, SAOTA was awarded a Global Nomination Award for project Kloof 119A. The awards ceremony was held on Saturday, 27 April 2019 in Shenzhen, China. The International Space Design Award Idea-Tops is the most influential, internationalised and authoritative design award in China, which…
The winners of the architectural competition for the new Neuländer Quarree precinct in Hamburg have been announced. The jury awarded SAOTA – an architecture and design firm from Cape Town, South Africa, BeL Architecture from Cologne and ROBERTNEUN Architects from Berlin. The brief was to provide design concepts for five components…
On 21 March 2019, international architecture firm SAOTA opened LIGHT SPACE LIFE in Zürich, Switzerland. More than just a showcase of the award-winning firm’s work, the exhibition explores the synthesis of these core ideas within the work that has established SAOTA as an integral part of the global architectural landscape….
International architecture firm SAOTA opens LIGHT SPACE LIFE in Zürich, Switzerland this month. More than just a showcase of the award-winning firm’s work, the exhibition explores the synthesis of these core ideas within the work that has established SAOTA as an integral part of the global architectural landscape. LIGHT. The…
