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PROJECT

POLO GUEST HOUSE,

POLOKWANE

Polo Guest House is a four star, 13 room boutique hotel situated in the old heart
of Polokwane. Landscape architect Cobus Scheepers was briefed by the client to

create a series of intimate outdoor rooms in an interior courtyard.

Project Team
Client: Roelf and Alet van Rooyen
Architects: Mashilo Lambrechts
Architects
Landscape Architects: Mohlolo
Landscape Architects
Main Contractor: Lington Builders
Landscape Contractor: Erna Lister
(Deceased)

he courtyard is bordered by the guest rooms and reception planted in specific areas as needed for sun and shade. The newly
area/lounge, carrying the same theme over into a conference developed suite required the transplanting of a large Arecastrum
Tfacility located on an adjacent stand, and a new suite developed palm and the planting of a 40 litre Albizia adianthifolia in a raised
on another adjacent property to the south of the existing hotel. planter to provide shade.
Scheepers’ design philosophy was to make use of both indigenous Other plant material included Aspidistra eliator, Bulbine frutescens,
and exotic tropical plants, steel trellises and level differences to break Callisia elegans, Carissa macrocarpa ‘Green Carpet’, Chrysalidocarpus
up a single courtyard space into a series of interconnected, smaller lutescens, Clivia miniata, Coleus ecklonii, Coleus madagascariensis,
spaces to create privacy, intimacy and a relaxed atmosphere. The Crassula capitella ‘Campfire’, Dieffenbachia amoena, Dietes grandiflora,
shaded courtyard provides a cool respite from the hot climate of Dracaena fragrans, D. marginata, Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’,
Polokwane, and a simple water feature contributes white noise in the Ophiopogon jaburan, Philodendron scandens, P. ‘Xanadu’, Plectranthus
background, without being intrusive. verticillatus, Protasparagus densiflorus var. ‘Meyersii’, P. densiflorus var.
‘Sprengerii’, Schefflera arboricola, Spathyphyllum wallacii, Strelitzia
Soft landscaping reginae, Tecoma capensis, Trachelospermum jasminoides, Tradescantia
The plant palette is a combination of indigenous and exotic species, albiflora, T. zebrina, Tulbaghia violacea, Zantedeschia aethiopica.

14 Landscape SA • Issue 155 2025 Check us out www.salandscape.co.za