Sabi Sand, South Africa

Ulusaba Private Game Reserve

Full rebuild of the Safari Lodge and Cliff rooms at a 20-key safari lodge, following a decade of phased refurbishment on the same property.

Project Description

Ulusaba sits in the Sabi Sands Nature Reserve on the western edge of the Kruger National Park, with 20 rooms and suites split between Rock Lodge, built into a granite koppie, and Safari Lodge in the riverbed below. After twenty-five years of service the original timber room structures at both lodges had reached the end of their useful life. The response was a comprehensive rebuild: full replacement of the Safari Lodge rooms and the Cliff rooms at Rock Lodge, reconfiguration of the spa and gym, and upgrading of the remaining rooms and common areas to match. The work ran from options appraisal, capital budgeting and the owner’s investment case, through design, planning and tender in South Africa, and into construction. A working game reserve brings its own constraints: no conventional supply chain, long haulage from Johannesburg, wildlife and heat on an open site, and the need to protect both the reserve and the guest experience while heavy works proceed. Earlier phased refurbishments of Rock Lodge, Safari Lodge, Cliff House and the Makwela Suites gave a long working knowledge of the asset before the rebuild was committed.