SAOTA’s Philip Olmesdahl completes his household house in cape city
Architect Philip Olmesdahl, principal at structure studio SAOTA, had been residing close to the location of his new Cape City household house, Higher Albert, within the metropolis bowl for greater than 15 years, admiring it, earlier than he managed to safe it for himself. Being his personal shopper supplied Philip the chance to push boundaries – combining knowledge earned designing homes with SAOTA through the years with one thing extra whimsical and experimental. ‘When architects design their very own properties,’ he says, ‘they’ll have a bit extra enjoyable; they could be a little bit much less mental.’
The nook website he secured was steep and had an ‘unmemorable’ 60s ranch-style home within the heart of a big backyard, as was typical of the backyard suburbs of the period. Philip factors out, nevertheless, that the Metropolis of Cape City’s densification technique on this space introduced new potentialities. In response, he subdivided the property alongside a contour. He redeveloped it to create a five-bedroom household house on the higher part and two four-bedroom rental residences on the decrease. ‘The target was to create a single home that loved the town’s exercise and vitality,’ he continues. On the identical time, he sought to recreate one thing of the spirit of a single standalone home in a backyard suburb for a modified city context.
all photographs © Adam Letch
higher albert combines a podium with multi-program ranges
Conceptually, the connection between the principle Higher Albert home and the lodging under, separated by a shared wall, references the row homes that traditionally characterize the realm. When it got here to designing the principle dwelling, nevertheless, as a substitute of a backyard on the bottom stage, Philip and his SAOTA group prolonged the footprint of the home proper out to the setbacks to create a podium on the decrease two ranges. The rostrum contains garages with a fitness center, visitor and workers lodging, and utility rooms. The higher two ranges are devoted to the residing area, which, from that peak, can take most benefit of the spectacular views of the town. The third stage accommodates the residing space and a coated outside terrace. 4 ensuite bedrooms plus a small lounge and research occupy the uppermost stage, together with a beneficiant workplace for Philip and a yoga studio for his spouse.
Philip Olmesdahl from SAOTA completes his household house, Higher Albert
cladding the home in purple concrete & terracotta breezeblocks
From the road, the boundary partitions and plinth are completed in gray stipple plaster, a reference to Cape City’s mid-century residential buildings and related to the campus of the College of Cape City and its outstanding place within the metropolis’s architectural heritage. Nevertheless, the constructing’s major identification is imparted by the distinctive red-pigmented off-shutter concrete of the higher ranges, particularly the angled pre-cast concrete screens mounted on metal frames, which offer shading and privateness for the intensive façade glazing. The selection of colour, Philip says, was partly based mostly on recollections of a visit he and his household took to Mexico. He additionally repurposed terracotta breezeblocks that fashioned a part of the outdated boundary wall, which, he explains, ‘had been ‘eliminated, saved, sandblasted, introduced again and constructed into the structural metal display screen‘. The colour, nevertheless, additionally expresses and emphasizes the uncooked materiality and texture of the concrete.
seamlessly mixing indoor and outside
open-plan area the place pure supplies & fashionable design unite
Internally, the home’s character is finest exemplified by the principle residing area, which has been conceptualized as a big, open-plan space that takes in the lounge, kitchen, and eating rooms. These represent a collection of overlapping, interconnected areas, a particular characteristic of SAOTA-designed properties, forming a flowing platform for residing. The architect describes the area as a ‘distinction of crisp strains, clear geometries and tactile finishes’ the place pure supplies and up to date aesthetics mix to create a homey area. Lighting, too, is key to the residing area expertise, with tender illumination washing over the higher ground. The screens filter the sunshine, however skylights, south-facing clerestories, and even excessive home windows within the stairwell, which catch the late afternoon mild, are thoughtfully positioned. Whereas synthetic lighting is pointless throughout the day, at evening, Philip has been positive that mild falls in ‘heat pockets’ to create variance, usually using freestanding lights.
pure supplies and up to date aesthetics create a snug setting
The seamless fusion of the inside and exterior areas, separated solely by floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doorways that disappear solely when opened, impart a palpable sense of place. Impressed by Ricardo Bofill’s well-known home in-built a transformed cement manufacturing facility, the place the panorama seemingly invades the constructing, Philip launched a wild, overgrown character to Higher Albert, making a imaginative and prescient of blissful co-existence of architectural and natural components.
The interiors introduce a brand new dimension of complexity and curiosity to Philip’s engagement with supplies, usually together with intensive analysis and improvement, innovation, and collaboration. The supplies he’s chosen for the inside finishes unfold as a considerate dialogue with the residing heritage inherent within the abilities of artisans and craftsmen. The polished polymer concrete ground, for instance, used extensively over the lounge, flooring, staircases, and exterior paving, is made with a inexperienced stone mixture that may be a byproduct from the historic copper mines within the Namaqualand space within the Western Cape. In some areas, Rustenburg granite is used for paving and native sandstone pavers across the pool and outside eating space.
a whimsical and experimental desgin overtakes Higher Albert in Cape City
Stable stone options prominently in furnishings items, too. Paarl granite, for instance, was used for the hanging four-piece server in the lounge, a console in the master suite, and the basins, all crafted by JA Clift, a third-generation stone mason in Paarl recognized for his or her work on the Afrikaans Language Monument. Different heritage finishes referencing the 50s and 60s embody the hessian wall. The timber lattice ceiling design (a calmly stained regionally hardwood, Meranti, which enhances the forged concrete screening) provides richness and a way of continuity between inside and outside. This fusion of SAOTA’s exploratory engagement with materiality and heritage, along with the daring aesthetics of Higher Albert, proposes a inventive resolution to the town’s shifting city context whereas making a hanging addition to the suburban panorama.
4 ensuite bedrooms plus a small lounge and research occupy the uppermost stage
