De Waterkant Terraced Home

WORDS Amelia Brown

White on white on white was the approach to modernising, expanding and unifying the interiors of a compact Edwardian terraced house in Cape Town’s historic suburb De Waterkant.  

“The house was a run down, dark one-and-a-half storey one-bedroom house,” explains Deidre Renniers of Deirdre Renniers Interior Design who took on the renovation project. “The brief was to add two additional storeys, create a three-bedroom home, find a way to connect all the floors to one other, and to bring in as much light as possible.” The house was completely gutted leaving only the external walls and support structure intact. The second storey was extended and a third storey added to take advantage of the views of the harbour and Table Mountain.

“We connected all the levels with an open feature staircase in the centre of the house, which also links the floors visually,” says Deidre. In addition to adding more windows and airy double doors, a huge skylight at the top of the staircase filters light in to all the floors.

White walls, finishes and flooring makes the space feel fresh and spacious. For the milky floors and double interior doors, Deidre took inspiration from projects she had completed in Sri Lanka. White is broken with occasional black accents, neutral furniture and wooden elements, and pops of red introduced sparingly through statement furniture pieces and artworks.

“We used very simple interior architectural details such as high skirting boards, recessed shadow-line ceiling cornices, double doors to all rooms, and simple freestanding baths and open showers in the bathrooms,” she adds.

Go inside a tiny De Waterkant apartment here.