OUR HOMES IN 2021
Estates Magazine, December 2020
Sphere Design & Architecture
Established in Durban over twenty years ago, our company has a strong passion for design and our creative and practical solutions are an asset to each project.
We specialise in residential, commercial and industrial architecture, completing projects both nationally and internationally. Our commercial projects include new high-rise structures, retail centres, large-scale refurbishments, hotel and leisure projects as well as residential developments. Our residential architectural work is tailored to our clients, where we focus on bespoke luxury solutions. 
Our interior design team are experts in restaurant design, workspace interiors, retail interiors, space planning, and exhibition stand design, both nationally and internationally. This interior design service is an asset on many of our Architectural projects where we engage in both the building structure and the interior detailing.
Trend forecasting post lockdown is being driven by the home being more important than ever. It is clear that homes need to be flexible, responsible and have a strong indoor/outdoor relationship. There is now a strong return to first principle design where orientation, natural light, ventilation and sustainability are the true keys to creating comfortable and lasting homes.
During lockdown, most of our clients got to experience, at home, the beautiful pre-winter days and evenings that our coastline is so famous for. This has resulted in a demand for usable outdoor spaces including large veranda’s, fire pits and functional courtyard spaces.
Understandably, home workspaces and home gyms are also featuring. People want lap-pools for training and where possible, quite workspaces for home-schooling and running a business online. The wasted spare bedrooms are now becoming carefully planned multifunctional spaces. Large sheltered openings with stack back or pocket doors, to double purpose a living space into a veranda has now also become the norm.
Trends in finishes show that textures and sustainable materials are preferred. Materials like Terrazzo, polished concrete, and modified or recycled timber hold centre stage. Indoor planting, curved edges to counters and vertical slatted profiles are in. Black is once again back as a contrasting element in ironmongery and bathroom accents, along with gold and copper to offset warm natural timbers and raw, unrefined finishes.
