Nicolaas Capital
Digital ventures for the luxury and premium-goods sector.
01A brief introduction
The first drawing.
The finished room.
The enterprise behind it.
Marius Nicolaas is a South African entrepreneur, writer and designer with more than two decades of business leadership experience, including board service and CEO roles at multi-million-rand companies. Based in Cape Town, his work spans business formation and operations, property development, interiors, timber-frame construction and building technology. He brings that experience of turning an idea into something tangible to his writing and publishing ventures.
His ventures include STRALERS and Miji Alexander. His completed manuscript, Lex Aetatum, is set for publication in 2027.
Selected experience
Founding businesses.
Running them. Advising others.
Bronto’s Holdings
Food and beverage operations, from site selection, branding and fit-outs to operating systems, marketing, recruitment and training.
IBV Beverage Company
A craft spirits business spanning product development, retail launch and international exports.
Operations & advisory
Currently consulting independently and through OnFrontiers. Earlier work includes operations consulting at vida e caffè, covering franchise relationships, training and compliance.
02
Property, interiors & building technology
Selected projects.
Built work and development concepts.
A selected Phelamanga Group project · Betty’s BayMaison
Mother’s House
Maison
des Mères
Mother’s HouseA house, considered whole.
Maison des Mères is one of multiple builds by Marius’s company, Phelamanga Group. He designed the house, assembled the team to build it, and carried the work through finishing and furnishing. The timber-frame home brings the structure and its custom-made interiors into a single, closely considered project.
His involvement extended from the design of the house to the rooms within it: the materials, the finishes and the furniture. It is a concrete expression of the relationship between enterprise and aesthetics that runs through his work.
- Scope
- Design · Construction coordination · Finishing · Furnishing
- Construction
- Timber frame
- Interiors
- Custom-made
Step inside Maison des Mères Four further views
Maison des Mères · In motion
Walk through the house.
A film of the house, its rooms and surroundings.
2 minutes 54 seconds · Play with sound.
Development proposalChâteau Paradis
Château Paradis
The Residences
Concept and design by Marius Nicolaas.
Scheduled for development in 2028.
SleekShelter
A considered range.
Room for different lives.
SleekShelter is a compact-space business with a range of models for different needs, bringing design and construction together at a more intimate scale.
Marius is not currently accepting new work.
Beyond the finish.
The structure deserves
the same attention as the room.
His work in timber-frame construction also encompasses building technology, including the SonicShield insulation system. Phelamanga Group brings property, construction and interiors together across a portfolio of builds.
Design, construction and the finished interior are connected concerns in this body of work.
03
Selected writing
An independent eye.
Essays and fiction, across borders.
I.The Country You LeftAbout the essay
A consideration of South Africa, distance and the stories a diaspora carries with it. What happens when the country remembered and the country still changing cease to resemble one another?
II.The Most Beautiful LieAbout the essay
Cape Town’s beauty, its invisible hierarchies and the lives excluded from its most seductive image. An examination of wealth, belonging and the distance between a city and its mythology.
04
Enterprises & works
STRALERS
An independent, free-to-read international digital magazine. Essays, fiction and an indecent interest in everything.
Forthcoming at stralers.com
Lex Aetatum
The manuscript is complete. Publication is set for 2027. A suggested constitution examining the relationship between power and human agency.
Publication · 2027
Miji Alexander
A luxury design venture founded by Marius Nicolaas. Launching soon.
View the product previewMiji Alexander · Launching soon
A sense of atmosphere.
A first look at the residence-fragrance presentation. Product previews from the forthcoming Miji Alexander collection.
An independent voice.
An open horizon.
For professional enquiries, editorial conversations and collaborations, connect with Marius directly.
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