With outposts by hospitality power players such as Singita and One&Only, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park isn’t exactly short on plush places to stay. Yet Johannesburg-based safari operator Wilderness has upped the ante with the opening of Bisate Reserve, an intimate and ultra-luxe extension of its award-winning Bisate lodge.

Like its older sibling, the original Bisate lodge next door, Bisate Reserve is the product of a collaboration between South African design firm Nicholas Plewman Architects and interior designer Caline Williams-Wynn of Artichoke (who has masterminded some of Africa’s most design-forward safari lodges, such as Jabali Ridge in Tanzania and Wilderness’ Duma Tau camp in Botswana). The Reserve’s architecture is similarly inspired by the thatched dwellings of Rwanda’s King’s Palace in Nyanza. The hill’s ridge is reserved for the communal lounge and restaurant, where black-and-white photographs of the local wildlife and pieces by local artists such as Rigobert Uwiduhaye celebrate both Rwanda’s cultural and natural riches.

With just four villas, the resort is an ultra-intimate affair. All villas are similar in size and design, entered through a mud-room foyer that leads to a dome-shaped living room made from volcanic stone, bamboo and timber. The furniture and décor meld contemporary pieces – think curvy sofas in buttery suede and straight-lined side tables from slate and copper – with bespoke Rwandan wickerwork and textile art.