Haldane Martin

General information

Haldane Martin is a preeminent South African designer and brand, renowned for iconic furniture and high-concept interiors for brands and businesses with signature identities that translate into extraordinary spaces.

For Haldane, a design is intuitively recognised as iconic when it marries innovation with beauty and captures the zeitgeist of the day in a timeless fashion.

Seamless integration of indigenous craft, sustainability, cultural identity, biomimicry, geometry and digital design has seen the iconic Songololo sofa and Zulu Mama chair – among others – become highly sought after by design collectors and connoisseurs worldwide.

The Haldane Martin brand is also growing a name as an interior design consultancy. Haldane’s 20-year experience in furniture design has set him apart as an interior designer.

His keen understanding of how things are built lends a higher level of innovation. His honed skills enable him to create and execute high-concept interior elements that capture and express each client’s unique identity at the same time as solving complex functional design challenges.

The brand’s first large-scale commercial project,Truth Coffee’s steampunk-inspired HQ in Buitenkant Street, Cape Town, was named “world’s best coffee shop” by MSN Travel in 2013. This concept interior with its unique bespoke elements is exemplary of their ability to tap into the essence of the client’s brand identity and express it through objects and space. This ability, coupled with a close working relationship with their client, has contributed to the huge cult following that Truth Coffee is currently enjoying.

Haldane Martin won a Gold Loerie for the Truth interior in 2015, in the category Three Dimensional & Environmental Design – Interior Design & Temporary Structures, a subcategory of Communication Design. Haldane Martin iconic design also ranked 2nd overall in Communication Design as well as in the small agency category in the official Loerie Rankings for 2015.

The Haldane Martin design team now also includes Shawn Looyen, an interior designer with 8 years’ experience in high end residential design, retail and commercial projects; Michael Smith, furniture design technician with 6 years experience in interior, furniture and product design; and Claire Taverner, a junior interior designer and qualified photographer.

South Africa’s maturing design climate has facilitated a renewed business model for Haldane Martin’s furniture, which is more akin to the European model that favours a differentiation between furniture designer and furniture producer. Haldane Martin's furniture range is now being manufactured, distributed and sold under license by high-quality furniture producer, Leon at CCXIX in Woodstock, Cape Town. New furniture ranges, such as Soft Office, are also being developed in collaboration with Ergoform, award-winning manufacturers of premium office furniture.

This differentiated way of working allows Haldane to focus on design: both of striking new furniture pieces and concept-driven interiors with bespoke furniture designs. Each new project further reinforces Haldane Martin’s reputation for iconic design that inspires.