Johannesburg · Established 2017
Luxury is not only how a building looks. It is how a place is felt — arrival, light, material, landscape, and the quiet moments in between.
The studio
Cube Studio was founded by Daine Hartley in 2017 with a simple conviction: the most memorable buildings are those that hold a strong sense of place.
The practice works across luxury hospitality, bespoke residences, commercial developments and specialised commissions. Each project is approached as a complete environment — not an object on a plot.
Daine leads architectural and creative direction. Alongside the studio, Johann Lemmer contributes creative and development strategy: how ambitious ideas become places that can be built, operated and remembered.
Together they bring architecture, guest experience, commercial thinking and practical implementation into one approach — particularly where lodges, resorts and destination environments are concerned.
Selected works
A current collection of Cube Studio commissions — residences, destination houses, and hospitality.
Approach
The design philosophy centres on the human experience — how space, light, materiality, landscape and movement work together to influence emotion.
Rooms sequenced as a journey. Compression and release, public and private, the pause before the view.
Daylight as structure; dusk as atmosphere. Illumination used to compose mood, not merely to see.
Stone, timber, plaster, metal — understated luxury that ages, rather than decoration that dates.
Buildings that belong. Planting, water and the horizon treated as primary architectural partners.
Arrival, threshold, gathering, retreat. How a guest or a family actually lives the plan.
Hospitality & destination
Daine has a particular passion for luxury hospitality and destination architecture, where every element contributes to the guest journey: the sense of arrival, connection to landscape, intimate moments of retreat, and carefully curated social space.
Johann’s strategic view asks how design, experience, operations and commercial thinking come together — so exceptional concepts can be realised, not only drawn.
The practice
Architectural vision with creative strategy and a clear path to delivery.
Founder & Principal · Architectural & Design Lead
Daine founded Cube Studio in 2017 to create exceptional architecture where luxury is defined not only by aesthetics, but by experience, atmosphere and a strong sense of place.
His work spans luxury hospitality, bespoke residences, commercial developments and specialised projects — combining design vision with technical depth on every commission.
Today he leads the studio’s architectural and creative direction, balancing understated luxury, authenticity and character.
Creative & Development Strategist
Johann brings creative vision, strategic thinking and hands-on experience across construction and development. He is known for turning ambitious ideas into practical, commercially considered solutions.
His strength is seeing opportunity in complexity — challenging convention, refining ideas, and identifying solutions that serve both guest experience and the commercial potential of a project.
Working alongside Cube Studio, he contributes to luxury lodges, resorts and destination environments, complementing Daine’s architectural direction with delivery insight.
Together. Architecture, guest experience, creative strategy, commercial thinking and practical implementation — a unified approach to luxury hospitality design.
Contact
Private commissions for residences, lodges, resorts and destination environments. Johannesburg.
info@cubestudio.co.za — or send an enquiry with the form below (delivered to our studio inbox).