The Story

A Lodge Built Into the Treeline

Set in a eucalyptus forest in the foothills of Volcanoes National Park, One&Only Gorilla's Nest sits on the doorstep of the wild mountain gorillas the park is known for. Its 21 lodges and suites are raised timber pavilions on pilotis, built between the tree trunks with deep overhanging roofs and bamboo-slatted balustrades that keep the architecture low in the canopy rather than above it. Inside, the design draws directly on Rwandan craft — woven leather headboards, hand-laid timber-strip ceilings, and Imigongo, the traditional geometric art form in white, black, and red, worked into the rooms throughout. The restaurant ceiling is entirely covered in overlapping woven baskets suspended at different heights, a piece of design that reads as genuinely local rather than applied decoration.

The property also holds the former residence of wildlife expert Jack Hanna, reimagined as a private retreat with its own games room, kitchen for cooking classes, and a library dedicated to Rwanda's conservation story. This shoot moves between that architecture, the interiors, and the forest setting itself — a lodge where the design and the landscape are working toward the same idea. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park remains one of my all-time favorite experiences behind the camera, and it's part of what makes this assignment stay with me long after the shoot ends.

Selected work

One&Only Gorilla's Nest, Rwanda