From Narrative to Textile: Evolution & Stephen Falke at the Park Hyatt Johannesburg
The newly opened Park Hyatt Johannesburg is a beautiful luxury hotel. It is a space where heritage, narrative, and design converge, an intimate jewel within the Hyatt group’s most exclusive collection.
For this landmark project, acclaimed interior designer Stephen Falke partnered with Amanda du Plessis, founder of Evolution Product, to create interiors that feel less like a hotel and more like a home, a home filled with stories, layered with South African references, and alive with a sense of place. Amanda and Stephen sat down to retell their shared vision for this collaboration, take a glimpse below.
A Shared Vision
From the start, the design brief was clear - imagine the hotel as the home of a well-travelled couple who had collected artworks and textiles from across Southern Africa.
“Stephen has been an incredible creative brain behind this project,” Amanda reflects.
“He created a vision of a home-from-home, layering South African products and visual references so it would never feel cookie-cutter, but proudly local.”
Stephen, in turn, praises the collaboration:
“Amanda, the quality of what you do, your technique and the history behind everything, is unique to you. It’s been wonderful to work together again and see how our collaboration has evolved.”
Themes of Landscape and Heritage
Evolution’s role was to translate South Africa’s landscapes into textiles and artworks, wall panels, cushions, throws, each designed to hold story as much as aesthetic value.
The thirty rooms were divided into themes, Sea Algae, Forest, Safari, Water Lily, Leaves reflecting South Africa’s diverse biospheres.
“I love that so much of our product can tell a narrative here,” Amanda says. “In one beautiful, luxurious space, our designs can carry the stories we want to share.”
Scale played an important role.
“The oversized artworks give the rooms impact without overwhelming,” Stephen explains. “They balance the organic landscapes with strong geometrics. It’s easy on the eye, and that’s when design really works.”
A Relationship Built Over Time
This collaboration is not their first. Years earlier, Amanda and Stephen worked together on the Drostdy Hotel in Graaff-Reinet, where Evolution’s textiles still hold their place.
“Seeing the product still at the Drostdy is heartwarming,” Amanda says. “The designs have lived the test of time in that space, and I truly hope the same will happen here at the Hyatt.”
Weaving Stories into Space
For both Amanda and Stephen, the Park Hyatt project is a reminder of why they create.
“What I find wonderful about working with you,” Stephen told Amanda, “is the historical fact, your knowledge and your research. So few people do it these days, but it’s a gift.”
Amanda adds:
“South Africa has such an incredible history, much of it untold. Evolution has always been about more than products. It’s about weaving those stories into design, connecting explorers of the past with today’s custodians of heritage and environment.”
Set within what is believed to be an original Herbert Baker building, the Park Hyatt Johannesburg is intimate, thoughtful, and rooted in place. With Patrick Watson’s indigenous landscaping, Stephen’s interiors, and Evolution’s storytelling textiles, the hotel carries South Africa’s narratives into every room.
“It’s been such an honour,” Amanda concludes. “Fifteen years on, Evolution still takes 12–18 months to bring each range to life, with every design rooted in history, memory, and meaning. To see that work woven into the Park Hyatt is deeply special.”
About Stephen Falke
An internationally acclaimed interior designer, Stephen Falke is known for his timeless, layered interiors that draw on history, heritage, and place. His work includes landmark hotels, private residences, and cultural projects across South Africa and abroad.
READ THE INSIDE STORY WITH OUR FOUNDER AMANDA DU PLESSIS
