Designing the Urban Savannah with Sandy Thethy
Every day we discover creative entrepreneurs with a passion for Kenya’s beautiful fabrics and all of the things it has to offer. Sandy Thethy is one of the many talented designers out there keenly translating Kenyan concepts into cool designs. Through her company, Savannah Design Studio located at Karen Park, she is part of an emerging movement of designers excelling in the world of Interior Design in Nairobi.
Sandy set up the design studio five years ago starting out as a small workshop, and her business has been growing tremendously since. The Tribe Hotel, Inter Continental Nairobi and The Sarova Group of Hotels are among the high-profile clients in her portfolio.
Do you think Kenya is ready to make a name in the international world of design?
We are but there are some things that have to change. For instance, somebody who was in my workshop lately asked me what I was doing with soft furnishing designs. According to her they would fit perfectly in John Lewis in London. That was an amazing compliment for us and it is often the same [directed] to other furniture designers, who produce handmade furniture, which you would never be able to get in Europe. We have what it takes but we have to raise the standards set exclusively on design. We also need to start being more proud of what we have available on our own doorstep. I think we all like to pay a lot of attention to what is happening in Europe, Cape Town and The Middle East. That’s not wrong because you can get inspiration from everywhere but instead of looking too much abroad, start looking around you. There are new buildings and modern apartments with very high standards; look at the skyline of Westlands, it will tell you a story straight away of what kind of talent we have in this country. Kenyans are well-traveled people who appreciate nice things and are ready for local designs. We have these great suppliers who deliver fabulous, modern and edgy things. All of this is already assessable for developers, designers and private home-owners. Bring in European-inspired finishes but the best things are right here on our doorstep. Why not celebrate what we are doing locally?
How come the design community in Nairobi isn’t as established as it should have been by now?
Quite a few things have to change, like the model of how designers work together. We have to help and support each other and drive each other in the same direction. Why can’t we share our expertise, knowledge and contacts with each other? We have to help this industry grow together and to achieve higher standards on a global level. We have enough talent to achieve that; it is a matter of good organization and a design community effort. It is about taking things seriously [through organizing] local design shows, platforms and magazines for this industry.
What exclusive services does Savannah Design Studio offer?
Our company is well known for custom designing bespoke pieces though we sometimes import others. Each piece that we design has its own story and everything is cut, stitched and beaded locally. Our quality control is very high; we find it very important to train our staff up to our client’s standards. We’ve got master beaders, highly trained master cutters and our tailors are trained by us in design from the beginning. We cover all interior design solutions; we can design an entire interior property scheme right from the interior architecture down to the soft furnishings like cushions. There are two sides to our company: the interior architecture and the workshop. We offer a complete package as clients can come to one individual designer and get everything in one place.
Designing Tribe must have been a pretty solid start for a new company. How did you clinch on that?
I approached them [Tribe Hotel] with my ideas and concepts thinking that we might not have an actual chance. We were a new company and up against some big names also doing interior design. On the other hand I was also confident about our craftsmanship [as there is no beading done] in Kenya like the one my studio does—that was the kind of thing the directors at Tribe Hotel were looking for. They wanted to keep it authentic and try as much as possible to source locally to promote local talent. We also have a strong company policy about understanding the client’s vision, brand and direction first before we translate it into bespoke designs. That won them over.
To book an appointment or more info, email sandy@ipdckenya.com
By Tahnee Fraser
