Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens

What Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens does

Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens is a privately held architecture and interior design practice co-founded in 1995 by Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a 1-10 person team. The firm specializes in bespoke, one-off design commissions for luxury safari lodges, high-end residential properties for high net-worth individuals, private tropical island resorts, boutique hotels, and custom office spaces, with active project presence across South Africa, Seychelles, Madagascar, Zambia, Kenya, and Botswana.

The practice operates an integrated design model spanning architecture, interior design, and product design — producing bespoke furniture (manufactured via partner Hark Design), ceramics, and uniforms that outfit the buildings they design, creating a single cohesive visual language across each project. Core technology is fundamentally design-craft rather than software-based, with no disclosed proprietary technology stack or AI/ML tooling. Notable projects include North Island Seychelles (Condé Nast 'Best in the World'), Angama Mara (Condé Nast Readers Choice #1), Leobo Observatory (World Safari Awards Best Private House), Jao Camp for Wilderness Safaris, and Miavana for Time + Tide.

The firm generates revenue through project-based fees for custom architectural and interior design commissions, supplemented by product/furniture licensing arrangements. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Client acquisition is driven by editorial coverage in Condé Nast, Architectural Digest, Wallpaper*, Elle Decor, and other international publications, an active Instagram presence, and direct relationship-based selling into the luxury hospitality and HNW residential segments. Key enterprise client relationships include Time + Tide, Wilderness Safaris, Thornybush, and Norman Carr Safaris.

Name

Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens

Legal name

Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens

Website

https://silviorechlesleycarstens.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens is a Johannesburg-based bespoke architecture and interior design practice founded in 1995, serving luxury safari lodges, private island resorts, boutique hotels, and high-net-worth residential clients across Africa through a 1-10 person team.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Luxury Architecture and Interior Design Services

NAICS

Interior Design Services (54141), Residential Remodelers (236118)

SIC

Miscellaneous Furniture & Fixtures (2590)

akta.pro primary industry

Luxury Whole-Home Renovation (High-End Finishes & Custom Build) (HSAPAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Architectural Reconfiguration & Structural Alterations (HSAPAEAB), Custom Cabinet Design & Build (HSAPAIAA)

Keywords

• Luxury architecture services
• Interior design services
• Safari lodge design
• Residential architecture
• Bespoke furniture design

Headquarters

HQ city

Randburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Architectural Services: Custom architecture and interior design services for luxury safari lodges, high-end residential properties, private islands, boutique hotels, and custom office spaces. Revenue is generated through project-based fees for design and implementation of one-off custom projects.
2. Product and Furniture Design: Design of bespoke, high-end furniture and products (including uniforms and ceramics) that outfit the buildings they design. Furniture has been manufactured by partners like Hark Design.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens is an architecture and interior design practice delivering end-to-end design for luxury safari lodges, remote-island hospitality, high-end residential and bespoke commercial spaces across Africa. Beyond architecture and interiors, the studio also designs and commissions bespoke furniture, ceramics and staff uniforms, allowing a single point of accountability from concept through to finished interior objects.

Product overview

Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens operates as a niche architecture and interior design practice offering a single unified service portfolio. The core offering comprises custom architectural services for luxury safari lodges, high-end residential properties, boutique hotels, and commercial spaces throughout Africa. In addition to architectural services, the practice specializes in bespoke interior and product design, including custom Furniture, ceramics, and uniforms that outfit their architectural projects to achieve a complete and cohesive design language. The portfolio spans Safari Lodges & Islands (including North Island Seychelles, Angama Mara, Miavana, Jao Camp, Chinzombo), Residential projects (including House Pengilly, Keurbooms Cottage, Westcliff Pavilion), and Commercial projects (including custom office spaces and retail fit-outs). Their product design division creates bespoke furniture pieces such as the Miavana Furniture Collection, manufactured by Hark Design.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture and Interior Design Services

Quantifiable outcome

• North Island Seychelles named Condé Nast 'Best in the World'
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Hark DesignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHark Design manufactures bespoke furniture designed by Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens for their projects, such as the Miavana Furniture Design collection.
• Time + TidecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTime + Tide is a hospitality group for whom SRLC has designed multiple properties including Miavana Private Island (Madagascar) and King Lewanika (Zambia).
• Wilderness SafariscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilderness Safaris operates Jao Camp in the Okavango Delta, which SRLC designed and revamped in 2019, winning multiple design awards.
• ThornybushminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThornybush game reserve near Hoedspruit, South Africa, where SRLC designed and built Saseka Tented Camp.
• Norman Carr SafarisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorman Carr Safaris operates Chinzombo camp in Zambia, a new safari lodge design by SRLC featuring padded canvas tents and vertical thatch structures.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Rockwell Group: New York hospitality, entertainment, and luxury interiors firm with comparable hospitality focus and a much broader institutional platform than SRLC.
• HKS Architects: Major global architecture firm with a substantial hospitality and residential practice; competes for the same luxury hospitality operators from a much larger institutional platform.
• Peter Marino Architect: New York-based luxury architecture firm specializing in flagship retail, residential, and hospitality projects; competes for similar ultra-high-end hospitality and HNWI commissions.
• Yabu Pushelberg: Toronto-based global luxury interior design and architecture firm serving top-tier hospitality, residential, and retail clients; a much larger incumbent in the same luxury design space.
• DiLeonardo: International hospitality design firm delivering interiors for luxury hotels and resorts; competes for similar luxury hospitality commissions at greater scale.

Direct peers

• ARRCC: Cape Town luxury architecture and interior design firm (sister studio to SAOTA) operating in the same African luxury residential and hospitality niche with a similar one-off, bespoke approach.
• David Collins Studio: London-based luxury interior design studio with a comparable boutique approach to high-end residential and hospitality projects for discerning private and operator clients.
• SAOTA: Cape Town-based luxury architecture practice with a comparable portfolio of high-end residential and hospitality projects across Africa and globally; closely aligned scale and end-client overlap with SRLC.
• Studio Arthur Casas: São Paulo-based architecture and interiors practice focused on high-end residential and hospitality; comparable in operating model of integrated architecture-plus-interiors and similar project scale.
• Mlinaric, Henry & Zervudachi (MHZ): London-based luxury interior design studio specializing in heritage residential, boutique hotels, and private islands; comparable boutique scale and ultra-luxury client base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/silviorechlesleycarstens
• Facebookfacebook.com/Silvio-Rech-Lesley-Carstens-100064140363749
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/silvio-rech-lesley-carstens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Silvio Rech + Lesley Carstens