MOVERS and shakers – that’s the duo at TMD Studios, the interior architecture practice of young Durbanites Treven Moodley and Lange Mnguni. Partnering with Plascon, TMD Studios will be on show in full colour at the East Coast Radio House + Garden Show, rocking the transformation of two rooms from dull to dynamite.
The show is on until July 7 at the Durban Exhibition Centre.
“Where stories come to life through design,” says Treven Moodley of the creative work emerging from his and his partner, Lange Mnguni’s, TMD Studios.
This young, dynamic duo brings to their projects a winning skillset of architecture, design and engineering, with an equally strong backstory of content creation and social media. Like so much, it all began with the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a new graduate, job hunting during Covid-19 wasn’t for the faint-hearted, and Moodley was that young graduate, but with his glass-half-full approach, within two weeks, he’d been asked to design the retail interior of an Umhlanga beauty parlour, Buff. The mindfulness and distinctive Durban-ness of the design put him on the radar of everybody who longs for something designed outside the box.
He had previously dedicated time and energy to his online social media presence. Initially, it was his personal communication tool, but as his followers multiplied, he saw it could be leveraged from a business perspective. For the Buff project, he used his social media platforms to include the public in his design process.
“My Instagram story polls became the fastest way to do a mass digital survey on design details such as colours, furniture and design features. My followers became invested in the design process, and I grew an audience and potential client base. Soon, I was called upon for various projects in different sectors, ranging from retail, commercial, hospitality, residential, fitness and product design.”
This was the birth of TMD Studio, which kept itself open to a wide range of design and branding opportunities.
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Today, Moodley and Mnguni have taken off. They’re not only creating extraordinary spaces in Durban but throughout the country and, now, in Africa. They currently have 25 projects on the go and consider themselves brand architects. For each project, they explore narratives through the medium of architecture and design. Each space and brand has a story and multiple layers which reveal themselves in different ways. It’s youthful, dynamic and wholly unique, whether it’s a restaurant or an office space.
“Durban is rarely celebrated from a design perspective,” said Treven, adding that they feel they have changed that narrative.
“When we started on our journey, there was no reference point for people of colour, no exposure from a Durban point of view of brown people in design – we’ve started that conversation, and it’s an exciting one. We’re inspired by the Durban lifestyle in which we grew up.”
TMD Studio has designed and decorated two rooms at this year’s East Coast Radio House + Garden Show – a lounge or TV lounge, and a dining room. They have chosen wonderfully contemporary furnishings which buck the trend and set it all against Plascon’s seasonal colour palettes. Join them from this weekend as the show swings open its doors and invites fans from across KwaZulu-Natal to discover a whole new world of décor and design, technology and gadgets, outdoor and garden goodies … and so much more!
The East Coast Radio House + Garden Show is sponsored by Plascon with Durban Tourism as a destination partner. For more information, visit www.housegardenshow.co.za or follow the show on Instagram and Facebook using @housegardenshow.
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