Nature pervades the house –the seamless flow of internal floors and ceilings out into external living spaces is mirrored by the fynbos planting which stalks the edges of the internal envelope, enfolds the terraces and decks and seeps into the garden courtyard. The setting for this house within Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate, on the Botrivier Lagoon south-east of Cape Town is spectacular – a slope of indigenous fynbos vegetation runs into the broad waters of a tidal estuary bordered by mountains. The considered architectural design by SAOTA and Interiors by ARRCC of this holiday house in negotiate the inherent paradox of such exposure to nature – how to shackle the extreme elements – sun, salt, rain and, in particular, high winds – whilst allowing the exceptional natural beauty of the site to pervade every space.
Haldane Martin has designed a new café for Cape Town: a traditional French crêperie called Swan Café, nestled in the hub of the bustling east city precinct. Elegant, feminine and atmospheric, the café brings to life the charm of Paris in a space that’s completely unique to the Mother City.
The blue swan logo at the core of the graphic identity is also the central interior design concept. Owner Jessica Rushmere has always identified with the swan. A graceful and majestic creature with mythological significance, these attributes play into the brand identity and the interior design, using the swan as an emblem and feminine oval shapes throughout.
New Holiday Home in Hout Bay for a German client. The brief called for an 80sqm minimalist contemporary design, comprising a lounge with open plan kitchen/ dining area, one bedroom with walk-in-cupboard and bathroom.
True-to-form, easy-living South African holiday home.
Perched on the banks of the Buffels River, close to its mouth in Pringle Bay – a small coastal town less than 100km from Cape Town, South Africa – this house has an easy living permanence that shakes off the salty winds and lets in the sun and the natural beauty of the surrounding indigenous vegetation and mountain valley.
The light-filled unique and eco-friendly home designed by Nico van der Meulen Architects is situated in Inanda, with views of the Sandton skyline to the north.
The stand is 1511 sq.m. and the house faces 15° east of north.
Upon approaching the home the first view is of the cantilevered porte cochere screen of suspended steel tubes with double sliding garage doors clad in dark limestone to blend with the wall. A steel sculpture by Regardt van der Meulen twirls on a podium next to the front door built of privacy glass.
When a client approached Johannesburg-based Architects Of Justice and commissioned an avant-garde retreat he could disappear to, a journey began which would culminate in a recent Commendation for the project in the Mpumalanga Institute for Architecture (MPIA) Awards for Architecture 2017.
The site for the project, situated within the Mjejane Private Game Reserve – a private Big 5 game reserve incorporated into the Kruger National Park – opens onto a view of the Crocodile River on the north boundary with a green belt on its eastern edge. The retreat was designed to maximise the connection to nature and wild game while ensuring privacy between the five en-suite bedrooms as well as from neighbouring lodges. The rigorous estate guidelines motivated the architects to design around the existing flora on the site, which led to a freeform design that required only three trees to be replanted.
Located in the leafy suburb of Higgovale, set below the iconic Table Mountain, House Invermark overlooks the city and harbour of Cape Town. Forty seven years after receiving a medal for excellence, House Invermark has been awarded a prestigious Commendation from the Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA), in recognition of noteworthy contributions to architecture.
The architecture of 6 Leadwood Loop was designed in accordance with Feng Shui principles. The square geometry of the floor plan is aligned with the cardinal axis. The shape, position and orientation of all the spaces and bodies of water were guided by Feng Shui protocols.
“The brief was to create a home with all the spectacle of an Atlantic Seaboard showpiece but also to respond to the practical needs and complexities of family life. The thinking was towards massive open-plan and double-volume spaces and tasked zoning,” says Stefan Antoni, director and Partner at SAOTA
House is defined along an axis which separates the living areas on the south side and the Gym and guest bedroom on the north.
The linear axis is pronounced by a tower-like lobby and ends with a natural filtered eco-pool as the focal point. Concrete and facebrick walls flank the space from which a steel staircase hangs from steel dowels defined by the meandering skylight above.
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