Flamingo Palace
Brixton, Johannesburg
When Heather and Thorsten renovated an ‘old’ Victorian home in Brixton, they named it the Flamingo Palace because the only colour they could think of to paint it was pink.
“It was a visceral reaction to bland home renovations and painting buildings black and grey.”
Thorsten
The Flamingo Palace is the new home of writer and photographer Heather Mason and architect Thorsten Deckler. When Heather arrived with a box of old Lieberman tiles for the new bathroom, the project became all about thrifting. So they set off sourcing salvaged doors, plumbing fittings, and lights from all over Johannesburg, and reused existing timber and burglar bars from the site to manage costs and tell a story. The result is a home that feels intimately theirs, built from pieces of the wider city.
Even though Thorsten has been an architect for 25+ years, they used the Mindful Design Approach to determine project priorities and budget before building.
“It was fun to use our own process, and it helped us stay on budget!”
Thorsten
Project team: Thorsten Deckler, Gabriella Shukor, Farzeen Wookey
Photographed by Heather Mason
“The first time I took a shower in this bathroom was amazing”
Heather
“Adding a second bathroom was our main priority. But we also tackled a couple of issues that made the house odd. Now the house feels almost more original than before.”
Heather
