location: Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa | architecture: ARRCC | interior design: ARRCC | photography: Adam Letch

This project entailed a substantial alteration and addition to an existing house. The basic envelope of the structure remained the same, but architects / designers ARRCC added a staff area of 20 square metres on the basement level, changed a few walls internally and gutted the building of all existing finishes.

The completed building now has three levels: basement, ground floor and first floor – total area undercover being 560 square metres. The pool was enlarged slightly and all exterior timber decking boards were removed and new material fitted onto the existing structure. The extent of the decking was also increased and modified.

The client brief was to execute ARRCC’s signature style in a new and exciting way to design a modern coastal home with an ethnic edge. Keeping the family’s two children in mind, the designers elected to create a space that was both contemporary and sophisticated, yet playful and fun-filled. The existing structure was transformed into a large open space accommodating an inflow of natural light through the use of an array of reflective surfaces and large external aluminium screens, which layer the exterior of the house.

Art was to play an important role in the redesign of the house where certain key works were placed, such as the bust from Lionel Smit and a piece by Nelson Makamo, as well as a tongue-in-cheek installation art piece from Frank van Reenen. The biggest considerations were what worked with the scheme, the right format and most importantly, what suited the personalities of the clients.

Important renovations included the roof sheeting and the existing staircase, replaced with a new bespoke steel structure. The designers recall: ‘The design incorporated thick metal plates welded together to form treads and risers, which on installation proved to recoil slightly as had the original fixture. It therefore required a good deal of added steel to make it rigid, which changed the initial design intention.’

For the full article see Habitat #262 November / December 2017

 

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