Architects of Creativity

Gardening is an extension of one’s self and one’s lifestyle, and nowhere is this more evident than this creative garden in East Griqualand

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When you drive into Kokstad on the R56, you can’t help but be curious about the house with the indigo boundary wall. Ten years ago architect Wayne and fine artist Julie-Ann Buss created their dream property. For them it was an exercise in lateral thinking.

What Wayne refers to as ‘the estate’, tongue firmly in cheek, consists of their home and his office, separated by the garden. It’s apparent on entering Wayne’s architectural firm, Ikamva Architects, that this couple have a creative partnership. A composition of sneeze wood and mosaics adorn the walkway. From the office space a path meanders through a forest of poplar trees. Wayne and Julie-Ann cultivated many of the plants in a makeshift nursery before the development of the garden, while the trees have been carefully nurtured to create this tranquil space. Wayne recalls a childhood story of planting trees with his father in Hoekville, and the legacy it has left in his life. Each day his father would teach him the names of the saplings while they tended to them. “It takes five minutes to cut down a tree son, but 15 years for that tree to grow,” he would say. This quote encapsulates the family’s philosophy, as nothing is wasted or taken for granted.