76 THE WORLD OF HOSPITALITY
MUZA LAB
Muza Lab’s Inge Moore Completes Redesign
of Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge –
Botswana’s New Eco Destination
Hotel
The Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge in arrival lobby, as well as a very special viewing
Botswana has reopened following its redesign hide where guests can sit and watch the wildlife
by Inge Moore, creating ‘an explorer’s camp at eye-level as they gather to drink in the
for today’s explorers’. Located in the Chobe watering hole.
National Park where the big five roam, the skies
are large and the land is washed with the muted To experience Inge’s design is to get really
colours of the Savute, the lodge has become close to nature as a modern-day explorer.
a tented retreat infused with the romance of The park is not only the home of abundant
a bush camp. Here, guests can discover and wildlife, it is the location of the fabled Savute
connect with the natural world, and slow down Channel, which flows for years like a river
to the rhythm of the land that surrounds them. into the Savute Marsh, and then, without
reason, dries up before eventually flowing
“I have a huge love and respect for nature and again, creating a dynamic and ever-changing
the wilderness: it’s something we as human habitat. Unsurprisingly, the word “Savute”
beings need to cherish and protect. So, working means unpredictable. The area is also home
on this project has been a real passion, honour to the Gubatsa Hills, formed 980 million years
and a huge responsibility,” says Inge. “My design ago during volcanic movement, which rise 90
not only seeks to create spaces where people meters high out of a completely flat landscape
can embrace the experience but does this with and bear reminders of the nomadic San people
in their rock art.
the greatest of care for the environment”.
The public areas are entirely new, each tented
room constructed on a timber-based platform
to minimise environmental impact. Together,
they form an intimate cluster of tented rooms
on a footprint that is smaller than before.
Luxury Frontiers, the architects of one-of-a-
kind tented resorts, worked closely with the
Muza Lab team in refurbishing the existing
guestrooms and in creating and installing the
new public spaces. These include a kitchen/
dining room, lounge and bar, library, spa and
ARRIVAL
Framing views is key to the arrival experience
and the entry buildings have been moved to
perfectly capture sights which will always be
remembered.