Sans: Seapoint's speciality homeware store is all about mindful design

A lifestyle institution in Cape Town's De Waterkant district, Loading Bay's holistic approach to retail has seen it grow over time from a restaurant to include a menswear store and product outlet for luxury Australian skincare brand Aesop. Its most recent incarnation sees Sans Home Goods and Sans Grocer being added to the family of businesses.

Owner JP Bolus and his partners' mission of bringing joy and mindfulness to daily rituals is the core of Sans. Taking the concepts that Loading Bay has been built on — sustainable practices, long-lasting quality goods, respect-filled relationships between suppliers — and extending this into the home realm.

"Throughout the years of connecting with the sources and suppliers for our retail and restaurant endeavours, we felt the need to take the conversation further," he says.

A natural next step forward from Loading Bay, the two retail spaces in the Artem Mall in Seapoint offer a range of produce, food, home and lifestyle goods.

Homeware is sourced from around the world - products designed with care and intent are chosen also for their sustainability in production and use.

"We look beyond trend or fashion to purpose, choosing items where form truly follows function," says Bolus. The selection spans furniture, bedding, kitchenware items, stationery and tableware and also includes an Aesop consultation area.

Sans Grocer continues the relationships built up with an existing network of carefully selected and trusted suppliers with the goal of raising consciousness around food production and practices.

The name Sans - the French word for "without" — speaks to the brands' philosophy of cutting out the unnecessary — whether that's packaging, additives or middlemen. This ethos extends to the design of the space.

Inspired by their long association with Aesop, as well as time spent in Japan and their Mediterranean upbringing, Bolus and his team wanted to create a space that felt warm, honest and inviting that had a flow and sense of harmony. It also needed to offer a relatively neutral platform to showcase the product.

"We knew we wanted to use a minimal material palette in the spaces. This wasn't to the ends of austerity, but rather an edited approach that was about cutting clutter," says Bolus.

Designed in partnership with longtime Loading Bay customer and designer Yaniv Chen of Master Studio, the resultant spaces are an understated combination of wood, rattan and raw concrete that serves to create a clean and calm space that encapsulates the company's ethos.