Meet Africa’s most inventive safari lodge

The stylish and contemporary andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge has won the Design Africa category at the We Are Africa Innovation Awards 2015, held this week on 5 May.

Celebrating the most inventive, inspiring and unexpected designs that are changing the face of safari in Africa, the Innovation Awards are voted on by a group of the finest African travel specialists and visionaries.

Redefining safari chic, andBeyond Sandibe, which is situated in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, features a new take on these magnificent surroundings. Commissioned by andBeyond, Nick Plewman Architects and Michaelis Boyd Associates have created a lodge structure inspired by the nest of the weaver birds and the pangolin’s body armour of scales. Elegant interiors by Fox Browne Creative mimic natural patterns while creating an atmosphere that is both tranquil and ethereal.

In keeping with the brand’s core ethos of Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, Care of the People, Sandibe has also been designed with a focus on sustainability. The lodge’s combined solar electricity and solar hot water systems produce more than 200,000 Kwh of energy per year, saving 67,000 litres of diesel, a carbon footprint saving of 180 tons of CO₂.