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Open-House Policy : House Stekhoven's roof edge "flirts" with the landscape. The edge responds to features like the mountain peaks in the distance. -
Open-House Policy : A small wooden hatch in the window allows ventilation when the weather is fowl. -
Open-House Policy : The street facade of House Stekhoven has limited openings for privacy while the sweeping ramp funnels you through the front door where you are confronted with the full view ofthe garden. -
Open-House Policy : The staggered bedrooms give each one a feeling of privacy. -
Open-House Policy : The concrete structure was done by a contractor while the bagged brick infill work was done by the owner himself. -
Open-House Policy : House Shear's magnificent view of False Bay. -
Open-House Policy : The beautiful composition of House Shear's street facade. -
Open-House Policy : Iona Court's sleek concrete staircase. -
Open-House Policy : A lush garden borders the slender Iona Court apartment block. -
Open-House Policy : A view of the living room at one of the Rowan Lane Houses. Notice the thin concrete columns and strip windows, both typical features of a Modernist design vocabulary. -
Open-House Policy : The effective use of natural light which is a reoccuring feature in their residential projects. -
Open-House Policy : Gardens in the sky - the terraces at Scott Road apartment block. -
Open-House Policy : Each of the Rowan Lane houses has a solarium on the roof that provides privacy and protection against the worst wind. -
Open-House Policy : The architects utilises roof space in many of their projects. This leads to a solarium and space for washing on the roof of Scott Road apartments.
PHOTOS: Liani van der Westhuizen and Alma Viviers | WORDS: Alma Viviers
Someone should give Ilze Wolff a medal. After 18 months of hard work, she singlehandedly (well, almost) managed to coordinate the diaries of two international architects, 10 homeowners and almost 200 architecture enthusiasts to pull off the 14th instalment of her now popular Open House Architecture series.
Not only this, she also self-published a beautiful monograph on their Cape Town works to coincide with the event. According to Ilze’s foreword, the monograph is an attempt to “present the archive (of work) within the public domain, the book doing so in the form of reproducing the original drawings and photographs, and the Open House by organising access to the built work.” She continues to write that this is part of a valuable process of re-evaluation and contributes to a “more complex reading of Modernist spaces, and thereby tries to avoid a collapse into a singular and nostalgic tribute…”
So, monograph in hand, camera-toting tour-goers descended on five of the architects’ residential projects built between 1969 and 1973 on Saturday 14 January, led by Adèle Naudé Santos and Antonio de Souza Santos.
From the exploration it was clear that, during the course of these projects, the architectural team had developed a design vocabulary that included exploiting the materiality of concrete and bagged brink; a keen awareness of the human need to feel connected with nature and the environment, balanced with a need for privacy; the effective use of openings and skylights to allow natural light to animate spaces; and clever circulation, as well as using roof space for gardens or solariums.
Another notable characteristic is the human scale of their buildings. In an age where we are obsessed with double and even triple volumes, 200-square-metre kitchens and the endless accommodation lists of living rooms, dining rooms, entertainment rooms, home theatres etc., it was wonderful to experience spaces that meet and embrace you instead of dwarfing and alienating you.
The concrete has been painted over in Rowan Lane, Scott Road and Iona Court, the roof gardens at Rowan Lane have been removed and additions have been made to House Shear, but the projects still remain as beautiful examples of their time. The fact that the original owners of both House Stekhoven and House Shear still live in them also attests to the fact that good architecture, though timeless, is also robust and flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of its inhabitants.
Rowan Lane Houses – 1972
Rowan Lane is a cluster of houses designed on a subdivided plot. Spread out like “the fingers of a hand”, the five houses radiate from a cul-de-sac. The houses were conceived as a landscape, complete with planted roofs, so as not to interfere with the views from the existing manor house. Although the houses were designed using the same typology, each varies according to its micro context. The well-established garden on the site was retained “and used to give variation to the five houses…” For example, a large magnolia at the entrance of house number two gave rise to a unique spatial sequence and a grove of trees created a magnificent courtyard condition at house number five.
Scott Road – 1971
The apartment block in Kenilworth was built for Adèle’s mother with the specific brief that she wanted to have space to dine outside on a garden terrace. So they created “a multi-level hanging garden by designing terraces shaded by a loggia with large planting boxes on each level.” The structure also serves as a frame of the views of the mountains and gardens beyond, giving the flats a feeling of expansiveness.
It is interesting to note that when this building was designed, it was convention to have separate entrances to the building and the individual flats for the domestic workers. This resulted in the use of an intricate scissor staircase and both back and front doors, as well as an elevated walkway from street level – a poignant example of how social issues find their expression in built form.
Iona Court – 1969
The physical constraints on site gave rise to a marvellously compact apartment block that is just over six metres (20 feet) wide. This slender building still accommodates 13 flats and is certainly a study in the economic use of space and circulation. A concrete construction, as opposed to brick, allowed them to design thinner walls in a design where every millimetre counted.
“We considered space from an experiential point of view: of spatial sequences, of capturing views and vistas, of light-enhancing space and human comfort. We were engaged in the material tectonics of building, of the formal consequences of our designs, and of the practicalities of economic construction,” Adèle recalls in her essay in the monograph.
House Stekhoven – 1972
The double-storey owner-built family home is probably one of the best-maintained examples of their Cape Town work. Where Rowan Lane was designed to be the landscape, House Stekhoven was very consciously perched atop the landscape. The garden has since grown and matured into a lush haven. Here it is heartening to see that the original concrete work, displaying the beautiful patina of time, has not been painted over.
Although the house was originally designed for a family with four children, who have since left home, the scale of the house is intimate enough not to be a rambling mansion empty of life. Here, as with all the houses, Tony affirms that, “issues of daily life gave rise to the details.” For example, an external spiral staircase gave sons with muddy sports gear (and surely sneaking in after curfew) direct access to their rooms without going through the house.
It was also good to the see the happy reunion of client and architects after 40 years. They joked about sharing many meals and bottles of wine during the design process, yet can’t recall if they were ever paid for the job.
House Shear – 1973
House Shear was originally designed as a holiday home in Simon’s Town but is now the permanent residence of the Shears. The house, perched on a steep site, makes full use of the magnificent views over False Bay. As with House Stekhoven, this house has an undulating roof edge that floats over the more geometric volumes of the house. Far from just providing shade for balconies and patios, the edge also corresponds or “flirts” with significant elements in the landscape.
The tour was kindly sponsored by the Cement and Concrete Institute and Business and Arts South Africa.
For more information about the tours or to order the Adèle Naudé Santos & Antonio De Souza Santos Monograph, Cape Town Work (R300), contact Ilze Wolff at 021 447 4182, 072 448 0848, tours@oharchitecture.com
Open House Architecture www.oharchitecture.com
