South African designer Porky Hefer took cues from the amorphous shape of bird nests to create this off-grid guesthouse on a wildlife reserve in Namibia.
The Nest at Sossus guesthouse is situated on the Namib Tsaris Conservancy, a 24,000-hectare reserve nestled between the Nubib and Zaris Mountains in Namibia's Namib desert.

It's been designed by Porky Hefer to emulate the habitat of sociable weavers ? a species of bird found in southern Africa known for building huge, bulging nests that are able to accommodate hundreds of birds at a time.
The four-room guesthouse is an evolution of the nest-like seating nooks that Hefer has created in the past by weaving plant stalks across metal skeletons.

"I was convinced that my smaller nests were bigger than a chair or a design piece," said Hefer. "I designed these camps with nests all over them and then I tried the idea for three years, changing forms and materials according to the locations I was pitching them," he continued.
"People didn't really get it and preferred four walls and a roof...but I kept on trucking."

When Hefer's unusual accommodation concept was ultimately accepted by the owner of Namib Tsaris Conservancy, Swen Bachran, the designer did a series of hand-drawn sketches to consolidate what The Nest at Sossus would look like.

The three-storey guesthouse is completely off-grid and operates off its own supply of water and electricity. Like the nest of a sociable weaver, it swells at differ...