Nando's, Phola Mall | Mpumalanga
Terracotta is having a moment. It has been quietly building for a few years now, appearing on interiors mood boards, in high-end restaurants and hotel lobbies, across fashion and ceramics and homeware, and it shows no signs of stepping back. There is good reason for that.
Terracotta is a colour rooted in the earth, in fired clay, in the warmth of sun on old walls. It connects to something instinctive and enduring, and it translates into an interior with a confidence that few other tones can match.
At Nando's in Phola Mall, CreteCote Microcement in Terracotta was applied across both the walls and ceiling, designed by Proportion. Wrapping a room from wall to ceiling in a single continuous tone and finish is a committed design move, it creates an enveloping quality that feels bold without being aggressive, warm without being heavy. The microcement finish adds another layer of character to that commitment. Up close, it is not a flat or uniform surface. It has depth and texture, a slight variation in tone that catches the light differently across the day and gives the colour room to breathe.
That quality matters with terracotta in particular. A flat, painted terracotta wall can tip toward the obvious. In microcement, the same colour becomes something more interesting, organic, tactile, alive. The close-up photographs of this finish tell that story better than any words can. What reads in a wide shot as a warm, enveloping room reveals itself at closer range as a surface with genuine character, the kind of finish that rewards the eye the closer you get to it.
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Terracotta and Nando's is also, when you think about it, a natural pairing. The brand has always leaned into warmth, fire, and the richness of Southern African and Portuguese aesthetic traditions. CreteCote Terracotta, on the walls and ceiling of this restaurant, feels less like a trend choice and more like a homecoming. |
