Tristan du Plessis Studio

Geonet · Design partners

An award-winning studio is designing the ELLE Beach Club.

Tristan du Plessis Studio is the interior designer for the ELLE Beach Club at ELLE Resort & Beach Club Bali. Founded in 2015, the studio has built a global portfolio across beach clubs, hotels, restaurants and luxury brand flagships, with commissions for Louis Vuitton, Four Seasons, Raffles, Belmond, Mondrian and Pacha.

Interior designer · the beach clubAppointed by Geonet Developments International

ELLE Beach Club, Seminyak. Architecture by Inspiral Architects. Artist impression.

01 · The studio

A boutique studio with a global hospitality portfolio.

Tristan du Plessis founded the studio in Johannesburg in 2015. Today it works internationally from Cape Town, Dubai and London, with a deliberately focused practice built around hospitality, lifestyle and luxury residential design.

Its portfolio moves easily between boutique hotels, beach clubs, restaurants, members' spaces, luxury flagships and private residences. The common thread is a strong sense of identity. Each project is shaped around its setting, audience and story rather than a repeated house style.

That range matters at ELLE. A successful beach club has to work as hospitality, dining, nightlife and leisure at the same time, while still reading as one destination.

SĀN Beach, Dubai, shaded deck
Le Café Louis Vuitton, Shanghai
The Cullinan, Dubai, bar
Hallmark House Suite, Johannesburg
SĀN Beach and The Cullinan in Dubai, Le Café Louis Vuitton in Shanghai, and the Hallmark House Suite in Johannesburg. Photography of SĀN Beach and The Cullinan by Natelee Cocks.
2015Studio founded in Johannesburg
3Studios: Cape Town, Dubai, London
12People on the organisation chart
18Published clients
6Category wins at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards

Trusted by some of hospitality's most recognised names

Louis Vuitton, Four Seasons, Raffles, Belmond, Accor, Ennismore, Pacha and Mondrian have all commissioned the studio. It is a client list built around brands with strong identities and high expectations for how their spaces look, feel and perform.

Cape Town. Dubai. London.

The studio works across Cape Town, Dubai and London. Its Dubai portfolio is particularly relevant to ELLE, combining destination hospitality, outdoor dining, pool environments and beach-club design in a hot coastal market.

SĀN Beach, Dubai, from above
SĀN Beach, Palm Jumeirah. The brief was the world's first luxury African inspired beach club: lagoon pool, cabanas, sand and shade, planned as one continuous deck. Interior design by Tristan du Plessis Studio for Food Fund International. Photography by Natelee Cocks.

02 · The beach club

A beach club designed as a destination in its own right.

Tristan du Plessis Studio has a defined role at ELLE Resort & Beach Club: the interiors of the ELLE Beach Club. Conran and Partners designs the resort interiors. The two appointments give the beach club its own design identity while keeping it connected to the wider resort.

01

A distinct identity within the resort

Conran and Partners designs the resort interiors. Tristan du Plessis Studio designs the beach club, allowing each experience to have its own character while remaining part of one destination.

02

Designed around the Indian Ocean

The beach club sits beneath an expansive organic canopy over lagoon pools, open-air dining and elevated VIP areas with private pools facing the Indian Ocean. The interior design will bring that architecture to life at guest level.

03

A direct beach-club precedent

SĀN Beach on Palm Jumeirah gives the appointment unusual relevance. The studio has already delivered a luxury beach club built around water, cabanas, natural materials, sculpted forms and a hot coastal setting.

04

Craft built into the design process

The studio's stated design ethos considers local trade capability from the outset. In Bali, that creates an opportunity to work with local materials, makers and craft as part of the design language rather than as an afterthought.

05

One destination, designed together

The beach club interiors will develop alongside Inspiral Architects' architecture and the wider resort interiors by Conran and Partners, creating continuity from arrival to resort to beachfront.

06

The most public-facing part of the project

A beach club is met by resort guests and day visitors alike, and it is the part of a destination that is photographed most. It carries the ELLE identity outward further than any other single component.

03 · How they work

Guest-led, place-specific and designed to be realised.

Tristan du Plessis Studio describes its approach through four priorities: listen closely, understand the audience, design with budget and local capability in mind, and create spaces people connect with. For a branded beachfront destination in Bali, each one matters.

01 of 4

Listen first

The studio begins with the brief: understand what the client is asking for, what the project must achieve and what the brand needs the space to communicate before the design takes shape.

Deep listeningClient objectivesClear brief
SĀN Beach, Dubai, interior
SĀN Beach, Dubai. Curves, arches and soft edges, in the studio's own description moulded by hand out of ancient clay. Photography by Natelee Cocks.

Designed with Bali's craft capability in mind

Local capability is considered from the beginning of the design process. In Bali, that can translate into specifications that draw on the island's materials, makers and craft while remaining practical to deliver.

Dubai is the closest thing to a rehearsal

Most of the studio's beach club, pool and outdoor dining work sits in Dubai, which shares Bali's problem set: heat, humidity, salt air, glare and a guest who moves between sun, shade and water all day. Material choices that survive that are learned on site rather than specified from a catalogue.

Zone 01

Pool, deck and cabanas

Lagoon pools, cabanas, sand, shade and the waterfall pool create the outdoor heart of the beach club, designed to shift from daytime leisure to evening destination.

Zone 02

Dining, bars and VIP spaces

Open-air dining, bars and elevated VIP lounges sit beneath the canopy and open toward the ocean, bringing hospitality, atmosphere and views into one experience.

Zone 03

The waterfall pool

A round, glass-walled pool cantilevered on timber columns, spilling a full curtain of water into the lagoon deck below. It is the most photographed thing in the architecture, and the interiors around it have to hold their own beside it.

ELLE Beach Club at night
ELLE Beach Club at night. The canopy shells and the lagoon deck are the volumes Tristan du Plessis Studio is fitting out. Architecture by Inspiral Architects. Artist impression.

04 · People

Founder-led by one of South Africa's most recognised interior designers.

Tristan du Plessis is founder and creative director of the twelve-person studio. Its scale keeps creative direction close to the founder, while the wider ELLE project team provides architecture, project management, operations and hospitality delivery around that design authorship.

Tristan du Plessis
Tristan du Plessis, founder and creative director
The Tristan du Plessis Studio team
The studio, Cape Town

Tristan du Plessis

Founder and creative director · Cape Town and Dubai

An interior architect who founded the studio in Johannesburg in 2015 and brings fifteen years of hospitality design experience. He has led projects for Louis Vuitton, Four Seasons, Belmond, Ennismore, Pacha and Raffles across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia.

His own stated intention is to elevate South African design by bringing local designers, artists and makers into international projects, on the belief that platforming that work at this scale shows the world a contemporary South African voice. The same instinct is what makes a studio comfortable building with Balinese craft rather than around it.

He was named Designer of the Year by 100% Design in 2024 and sits on the Architectural Digest AD100 for the Middle East and Africa. He has judged the AHEAD hospitality awards twice.

The studio

Twelve people across Cape Town, Dubai, London and Europe, covering creative direction, design direction, architecture, technical design, FF&E and styling, and operations.

A studio of twelve does not carry a resort on its own, and it is not being asked to. On ELLE Resort the architect is Inspiral, the project manager is Colliers International, the operator is SONO Hotels & Resorts and the hospitality adviser is JACK Hospitality. What Geonet is buying here is design authorship.

1
Founder and creative director
2
Design directors
1
Head of technical design
1
Architect
1
Lead design
1
Technical designer
1
FF&E design and styling
2
Junior and intern designers
1
Director of operations
1
Executive assistant

05 · Recognition

Awarded where hospitality design is judged hardest.

The studio's recognition is concentrated in hospitality and interior design. Six category wins at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, four AHEAD Middle East and Africa titles in a single year, a global AHEAD Best Suite Design award, plus individual recognition for Tristan du Plessis through 100% Design and Architectural Digest.

2019
Restaurant & Bar Design Awards
Winner · Best Overall Restaurant, global

The programme's global Best Overall Restaurant title, won in the same year the studio also received Best Restaurant Design for the Middle East and Africa.

2019
AHEAD Middle East & Africa
Winner · Hotel of the Year

The headline award in a four-title year for the studio, alongside Best Conversion, Best Suite Design and Visual Identity.

2022
AHEAD Global
Winner · Best Suite Design

Global recognition for the Hallmark House Suite in Johannesburg, created with musician Black Coffee.

2024
100% Design · Architectural Digest
Designer of the Year · AD100

Tristan du Plessis was named Designer of the Year by 100% Design and is included in Architectural Digest's AD100 for the Middle East and Africa.

The full awards archive

Restaurant & Bar Design Awards

23 entries

  • 2023WinnerClub/Night Venue · America
  • 2023FinalistStandalone · Middle East & Africa
  • 2023FinalistSurface Interiors · America
  • 2022FinalistSurface Interiors · Middle East & Africa
  • 2022FinalistStandalone · Middle East & Africa
  • 2022FinalistIn Another Space · Middle East & Africa
  • 2022FinalistBest Restaurant In A Hotel · Europe
  • 2022FinalistAlfresco & Biophilic Design · Middle East & Africa
  • 2021WinnerLuxury · Global
  • 2021FinalistIn Another Space · Middle East & Africa
  • 2021FinalistIn Another Space · Middle East & Africa
  • 2020WinnerBest Bar Design · Middle East & Africa
  • 2020FinalistBest Restaurant in a Hotel · Global
  • 2020FinalistBest Restaurant · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019WinnerBest Overall Restaurant · Global
  • 2019WinnerBest Restaurant Design · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019FinalistBest Restaurant Design · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019FinalistSurface Interiors · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019FinalistBest Restaurant Inside a Hotel · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019FinalistBest Bar Design · Middle East & Africa
  • 2018FinalistBest restaurant design, twice · Global
  • 2018FinalistBest bar design · Global
  • 2016WinnerBest bar design · Global

AHEAD · Awards for Hospitality Experience and Design

7 entries

  • 2023JudgeGlobal
  • 2022WinnerBest Suite Design, with Black Coffee · Global
  • 2020JudgeGlobal
  • 2019WinnerHotel of the Year · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019WinnerBest Conversion · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019WinnerBest Suite Design · Middle East & Africa
  • 2019WinnerVisual Identity · Middle East & Africa

FACT Dining Awards

5 entries

  • 2022Fusion Dining in Bahrain · Middle East & Africa
  • 2021WinnerLuxury category · Middle East & Africa
  • 2021Best Fine Dining Restaurant, GCC · Middle East & Africa
  • 2021Best Fusion in Bahrain · Middle East & Africa
  • 2020Best Newcomer in Bahrain · Middle East & Africa

Wallpaper*

2 entries

  • 2019Best Urban Hotel · Europe
  • 2019Best Urban Hotel · Middle East & Africa

Architectural Digest

1 entry

  • 2024AD100 · Middle East & Africa

100% Design

1 entry

  • 2024WinnerDesigner of the Year · South Africa

GQ

2 entries

  • 2019Man of the Year · South Africa
  • 2018GQ Style Awards, top ten · Global

Surface Travel Awards

1 entry

  • 2019FinalistHotel · Europe

Artravel Magazine

1 entry

  • 2019March and April cover story · Europe

Other recognitions

2 entries

  •  Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award · Global
  •  Best 10 Restaurants in Bahrain, Bahrain Confidential · Middle East & Africa
Le Café Louis Vuitton, Shanghai
Le Café Louis Vuitton, Shanghai, 2025. A flagship culinary concept for Louis Vuitton, drawn around the Golden Age of Travel. Interior design by Tristan du Plessis Studio. The building that houses it and the exhibition inside it are the work of others.

06 · Selected work

From Palm Jumeirah to Louis Vuitton, a portfolio built around destination spaces.

The studio's published work spans beach clubs, hotels, restaurants, wellness, nightlife and luxury brand environments across Dubai, Shanghai, Miami, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Salzburg, Tuscany and Abu Dhabi.

SĀN Beach
Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

SĀN Beach

Food Fund International

The strongest precedent for ELLE. A luxury beach club on Palm Jumeirah shaped around a lagoon pool, cabanas, sculpted curves and natural materials, designed as one continuous destination.

Interior design2021
Le Café Louis Vuitton
Shanghai

Le Café Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

A flagship culinary concept for Louis Vuitton in Shanghai, built around the Golden Age of Travel and the house's trunk-making heritage. The café interior is Tristan du Plessis Studio's work.

Interior design, the café2025
The Cullinan
Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai

The Cullinan

Food Fund International

A richly layered hospitality interior built from dark marble, timber, brushed metal and sculptural lighting, balancing drama with restraint.

Interior design2025
Ristorante Loren
West Palm, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

Ristorante Loren

Food Fund International

A rooftop interpretation of 1960s Italian coastal glamour, using scalloped canopies, arches and planting to shape an outdoor dining destination above the marina.

Interior design2022
Giselle
Miami

Giselle

E11EVEN

A high-energy Miami restaurant combining retro-futurist glamour with a sequence of intimate indoor and outdoor spaces above E11EVEN.

Interior design2023
FYN
Cape Town

FYN

The Restaurant People

A restaurant inside Cape Town's historic Speakers' Corner building, defined by a dramatic suspended ceiling installation and a strong contemporary identity.

Interior design2019
Gorgeous George
Cape Town

Gorgeous George

The Restaurant People

A boutique hotel in Cape Town that combines exposed historic structure, local art and social spaces as an alternative expression of luxury hospitality.

Interior design2019
Hallmark House Suite
Johannesburg

Hallmark House Suite

with Black Coffee

A dark, restrained suite created with musician Black Coffee. Winner of Best Suite Design globally at the 2022 AHEAD Awards.

Interior design2022
Terre Paisible
South Africa

Terre Paisible

Terre Paisible

A medical rejuvenation and spa environment designed around landscape, calm materials and a deliberately understated interior experience.

Interior design2024
Gentle Hide Hotel
Salzburg

Gentle Hide Hotel

Chapter Hotels

A design-led Salzburg hotel conceived as a calm retreat within the city, with detailed guest rooms at the centre of the experience.

Interior design
Mondrian Hotel
Abu Dhabi

Mondrian Hotel

Ennismore

A complete hotel interior combining bold geometry, sculptural lighting and large-scale spaces within the Mondrian brand language.

Full hotel designArtist impression
Chapter Chianti Hotel
Tuscany

Chapter Chianti Hotel

Chapter Hotels

A hotel, owner's villa and spa in the Chianti hills, integrating contemporary interiors with existing stone and timber architecture.

Interior designArtist impression

07 · Their clients

Trusted by brands with global hospitality and luxury credentials.

Louis Vuitton, Four Seasons, Raffles, Belmond, Accor, Ennismore, Pacha and Mondrian sit within the studio's published client portfolio. For a boutique practice, the calibre and range of those appointments says as much as the project count.

Le Café Louis Vuitton
Louis VuittonLe Café Louis VuittonShanghai

Luxury brands, hotel groups, restaurant and nightlife operators · 18

Louis VuittonFour SeasonsRaffles Luxury Hotels & ResortsBelmond HotelsAccorEnnismoreMondrian HotelsHyde HotelPacha GroupFive Hotels & ResortsChapter HotelsForty One HotelParis SocietyFood Fund InternationalThe Restaurant PeopleMilk & Honey Group SAE11EVENTerre Paisible

08 · For investors

Why this appointment matters to ELLE Resort.

The ELLE Beach Club will be one of the project's most visible guest experiences. Tristan du Plessis Studio brings direct beach-club experience, international hospitality credentials and a portfolio built around spaces designed to become destinations in their own right.

01

A designer with a direct precedent

SĀN Beach on Palm Jumeirah gives Tristan du Plessis Studio direct experience in the same design category: a luxury beach club in a hot coastal setting, organised around water, cabanas, dining and outdoor social space.

02

Designing the public face of the destination

The beach club is designed for resort guests and day visitors alike. It is a highly visible part of the project and a major expression of the ELLE Resort & Beach Club identity.

03

Trusted by global hospitality and luxury brands

The studio's published clients include Louis Vuitton, Four Seasons, Raffles, Belmond, Accor, Ennismore, Pacha and Mondrian, demonstrating experience working within established international brand identities.

04

Recognition centred on hospitality design

Its record includes six category wins at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, four AHEAD Middle East and Africa titles in 2019 and a global AHEAD Best Suite Design award in 2022.

05

Local craft considered from the outset

The studio's stated ethos considers local trade capability from the beginning and the founder has consistently brought local designers, artists and makers into international work. That approach is well suited to a project in Bali.

06

A clear role within a specialist project team

Tristan du Plessis Studio designs the beach club. Conran and Partners designs the resort interiors. Inspiral Architects is the architect and SONO Hotels & Resorts is the hospitality operator. Each role is clearly defined.

09 · Questions

What to know about Tristan du Plessis Studio and ELLE.

Tristan du Plessis Studio is a boutique interior architecture practice founded in 2015, working across Cape Town, Dubai and London. Its international portfolio spans hotels, beach clubs, restaurants, members' spaces, luxury brand environments and residences across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia.

Yes. SĀN Beach on Palm Jumeirah is the clearest precedent for ELLE: a luxury beach club organised around a lagoon pool, cabanas, sand, shade, natural materials and sculpted forms in a hot coastal setting.

Founder and creative director Tristan du Plessis leads the twelve-person studio and works between Cape Town and Dubai. The practice covers creative direction, interior architecture, technical design, FF&E, styling and operations. Its scope at ELLE is the beach club; Conran and Partners is the interior designer for the resort, and Inspiral Architects is the architect.

The studio has six category wins at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, including Best Overall Restaurant globally in 2019. It won four AHEAD Middle East and Africa titles in 2019, including Hotel of the Year, and Best Suite Design globally in 2022 for the Hallmark House Suite with Black Coffee. Tristan du Plessis was named Designer of the Year by 100% Design in 2024 and is included in Architectural Digest's AD100 for the Middle East and Africa.

Tristan du Plessis Studio provides the interior design authorship for the beach club within a broader specialist project team. Inspiral Architects is the architect, Colliers International is the project manager, SONO Hotels & Resorts is the operator and JACK Hospitality is the hospitality adviser.

ELLE Beach Club, the waterfall pool
ELLE Beach Club, Seminyak. The cantilevered waterfall pool spilling into the lagoon deck. Architecture by Inspiral Architects; the beach club interiors are Tristan du Plessis Studio's scope, and the resort interiors are Conran and Partners'. Artist impression.