Architect Philip Olmesdahl, principal at Cape Town-based studio SAOTA, had been living near this site in the city bowl for more than 15 years, admiring it, before he managed to secure it for himself. The timing, however, was perfect. “We needed a more spacious home for my family when the children got into their teenage years,” he says. Being his client offered Philip the opportunity to push boundaries - combining wisdom earned designing houses with SAOTA over the years with something a bit more whimsical and experimental. “When architects design their own homes,” he says, “they can have a bit more fun; they can be a little bit less intellectual.” That doesn’t mean that the design of his own home is any less rigorously thought-out, but rather that Philip could take the opportunity to explore architectural ideas without necessarily feeling the need to present a definitive statement or conclusive theory and weave in personal associations and preferences.
The corner site he secured was steep and had an “unmemorable” 60s ranch-style house in the center of a large garden, as was typical of the garden suburbs of the era. Philip points out, however, that the City of Cape Town’s densification strategy in this area presented new possibilities. In response, he subdivided the property along a contour. He redeveloped it to create a five-bedroom family home on the upper section and two four-bedroom rental apartments on the lower. “The objective was to create a single house that enjoyed the activity and the energy of the city,” says Philip. At the same time, he sought to recreate something of the spirit of a single standalone house in a garden suburb for a changed urban context.
From the street, the boundary walls and plinth are finished in grey stipple plaster, a reference to Cape Town’s mid-century residential buildings and associated with the campus of the University of Cape Town and its prominent place in the city’s architectural heritage. However, the building’s primary identity is imparted by the distinctive red-pigmented off-shutter concrete of the upper levels, especially the angled pre-cast concrete screens mounted on steel frames, which provide shading and privacy for the extensive façade glazing. The choice of color, Philip says, was partly based on memories of a trip he and his family took to Mexico. He also repurposed terracotta breezeblocks that formed part of the old boundary wall, which, he says, were “removed, stored, sandblasted, brought back and built into the structural steel screen”.
The color, however, also expresses and emphasizes the raw materiality and texture of the concrete. Philip says that he, like a lot of architects, “loves the way things are built”, and something of that fascination and delight is built into the tactile use of materials and expressive tectonic elements of the facade. Internally, the house's character is best exemplified by the main living spae, which has been conceptualized as a large, open-plan area that takes in the living room, kitchen, and dining rooms. These constitute a series of overlapping, interconnected spaces, a distinctive feature of SAOTA-designed homes, forming a flowing platform for living. Philip says the “contrast of crisp lines, clean geometries, and tactile finishes” is central to SAOTA’s approach - “the idea of combining contemporary design with natural materials to create an architecturally progressive space that is also a comfortable and happy space to live in.”
If you liked these videos, please give them a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel. H D I • HOME DESIGN IDEAS We'd appreciate it.
SUBSCRIBE OR I TAKE YOUR SMILE
goo.by/HDI
Project name: Upper Albert Residence
Architects: SAOTA www.saota.com/
City: Cape Town
Country: South Africa
Area: 942 m²
Year: 2021
Photographs: Adam Letch
Lead Architects: SAOTA
Interior Designers: ARRCC
Structural Engineers: Moroff & Khune
Main Contractors: Red Sky Projects
Lighting Consultants: Martin Doller Design
Landscaping: Reto Mani Garden Services
Saota Project Team: Riaz Ebrahim, Anthony Whittaker, Michelle Mills, Casey Hunter
Arrcc Project Team: Mark Rielly, Nina Sierra Rubia, Anna Katharina Schoenberger, Amy King
Copy By: Graham Wood
Quantity Surveyors: Meyer Summersgill
Music: AWLEE "Lullah"
GIANTS' NEST "Animal Hug"
#hdihomedesignideas #architecture #design #architecturalmarvel #SAOTA #UpperAlbertResidence #CapeTown #modernarchitecture #luxuryliving #homegoals #interiordesign #amazingviews #dreamhome #inspiration #luxuryproperty #glassandsteel #OceansideLiving #urbanliving #contemporarydesign #buildingdesign #beautyinstructure #structuralmarvel
Негізгі бет Тәжірибелік нұсқаулар және стиль SAOTA's Masterpiece: Upper Albert Residence in Cape Town | H D I • HOME DESIGN IDEAS
Пікірлер: 2