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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

Gorgeous George in Cape Town, South Africa by urbane citizen architecture

 
July 28th, 2019 by Sumit Singhal

Article source: urbane citizen architecture

In the heart of Cape Town’s bustling CBD, the property at 118 St George’s mall is not one building, but a consolidation of two. A “Cape Edwardian” building, estimated to have been completed in the early 1940s, stands on the corner of St Georges Mall and Longmarket Street, and is flanked by an Art Deco counterpart which was designed by the architectural firm Walgate & Elsworth, who designed the Table Mountain Cableway stations, for the offices of the United Building Society and completed c1938. While the characteristic external elements of the existing buildings have remained unchanged, like the Edwardian teak windows, the Art Deco granite façade and the noteworthy bronze portal doors framing the entrance, the interiors were sadly destroyed in the decades of reuse and reinvention of the space.

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

  • Architects: urbane citizen architecture
  • Project: Gorgeous George
  • Location: Cape Town, South Africa
  • Photography: Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels 
  • Project Team: Klaus Neumann, Jessica Smillie, Cornelis Muller 
  • Structural Engineers: Poise Consulting Engineers
  • Electrical Engineers: RWP Western Cape
  • Quantity Surveyor: LDM 
  • Heritage: Peter Buttgens Architects, Johann Cornelius 
  • Wet Services: Sutherland Engineers 
  • Interior Design: Tristan Du Plessis for Studio A
  • Completed: 2019

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Now destined to become a contemporary boutique hotel, the first design concept was to strip the decaying interiors and expose the layers of historical structure below – once the crumbling concrete beams and remnant lift shafts were revealed, it was clear that the building’s history should be preserved and showcased in the design.

The brief resolved into 32 rooms (ranging from studios to 2-bedroom suites) across 4 floors, with the first floor set aside as a conference/meeting space and the sixth-floor a bar and restaurant that spills onto the roof terrace of the corner building.

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

The rooms combine elements of the original concrete and steel structure and historic windows with contemporary design that showcases the immense talent of a range of local artists and designers while still keeping elements of classical grandeur.

The most exciting challenge was the design for the roof terrace. The lower portion of the original Broseley clay tiled roof was refurbished and a steel pergola structure clad with sun-control glass extends the original roofing profile, appearing as solid and almost invisible during the day transforming into a transparent structure at night. The remaining salvageable tiles have been used as a wall cladding feature on the sun deck. A new pool was constructed inside the original corner tower, a unique feature of the hotel, being both a view point and a landmark at the same time.

In reinstating the urban presence of the building as a public venue, the Gorgeous George hopes to be more than just a hotel but a living room for the neighbourhood which houses the best of Cape Town’s old and new.

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © Claus Brechenmacher and Reiner Baumann for Design Hotels

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

Image Courtesy © urbane citizen architecture

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Categories: Bar, Building, Conference Center, Hotel, Meeting House, Restaurant




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