On The Dunes

A young South African couple living and working in Hong Kong connect with their roots at their holiday home at Big Bay on the West Coast.

- Diana Wemyss

When a young South African couple living and working in Hong Kong wanted to find the right interior designer for their new holiday house at Big Bay on the West Coast, they trawled the Internet and came across the site of Hendre Bloem.

Hendre, only 25 at the time and a graduate of BHC School of Design in Cape Town, had already notched up a project list that impressed the couple.

The wife flew to South Africa and spent a week with Hendre looking at what was available from local high-end designers and retailers. The couple then gave Hendre almost carte blanche to design the interiors, communicating only through Skype throughout the project. The husband only met Hendre once the interiors were completed. “As we finished and walked off site, the owners moved in,” says Hendre.

As he was involved early on in the building process, Hendre was able to advise on the interior layout, designing a wonderful steel and wood suspended staircase leading up to a catwalk that connects one side of the house to the other.