Haldane Martin Iconic Design has designed a new bar for South African craft beer brand Striped Horse. The Striped Horse Muizenberg is an eclectic bar and grill with a distinctive character and aesthetic of worn patina and a relaxed atmosphere, befitting the beach-side suburb famous for its surf culture and warm Indian Ocean. After working with Striped Horse on the interior design of their office space in 2014, Haldane Martin was commissioned to design key elements of the new bar in 2016, situated in a heritage Victorian building in the hub of Muizenberg.

The design team specifically worked on the centrepiece bar, the bar back shelving and outdoor furniture, and the signage, all sponsored by Striped Horse. The rest of the interior was designed by the bar owner, Jurie Blomerus. The materials and lighting of the bar were chosen to complement the rest of Jurie’s interior’s raw and distressed finishes. For one of the key design concepts, Haldane Martin continued with the brand motif developed for the Striped Horse offices of black and white “razzle dazzle” – a distinctive naval camouflage used by the British navy in World War I – which reinforces the black and white stripes of the zebra at the heart of the brand identity.

The razzle dazzle concept was taken a step further for the bar design to develop a naval language, drawing on the seaside location and heritage of Simon’s Town across the bay, which is home to the South African navy. Here, razzle dazzle was created as illustrations of actual boats applied to the side wall shelving. The focal point of the space is a large, masculine curved black bar with oregon pine bar top edging. The bar front is made out of laser-cut raw steel profiles similar in shape to the ribs that naval vessels are built from. The back of the bar features porthole-shaped shelving also laser cut from raw steel and backed with bronzed mirrors to further strengthen the naval reference.

The exterior roadside Striped Horse bar signage was created in plaster relief akin to traditional hotel bars, while the Striped Horse beer logo was hand painted on the beach facing exterior wall for an authentic, vintage finish. The outdoor tables and benches and round tables and stools were designed to be a simplified expression of traditional beerfest furniture made from galvanised mild steel and marine plywood. The final result is a distinctive and iconic space that encapsulates the bold craft beer brand, quickly gaining popularity with the locals and fast becoming a drawcard for tourists and out-of-towners for its novel design.

Design: Haldane Martin and Jurie Blomerus
Photography: Micky Hoyle