-
Old ceiling beams were reused to build the screen that encloses the staircase to the first floor. The wooden entrance doors were also a feature of the existing house, and were moved to the front from their original position at the rear of the building. The dog cushion on the Alvar Aalto chair is by Aaron Stewart, part of his contribution to the “Design a Pet” project for Hornet Toys. The terracotta vase on the coffee table is from Country Road. -
The compact kitchen features a central island topped with a slab of Verde Guatemala marble, integrated cupboards and appliances, and taps by Still Bathrooms. -
An enclosed courtyard off the kitchen is painted in Plascon’s “Orange You Glad”. -
A monkey bowl, a Tivoli radio and a terracotta planter adorn the E.1027 Credenza server by Douglas & Company, while the artwork above is by South African artist Anton Kannemeyer. -
The slatted plywood bench, covered by a Woodheads sheepskin and a Renée Rossouw cushion, is a prototype Jan created for a collaboration range with MRP Home. -
The upstairs bathroom includes a built-in vanity counter and storage unit by Douglas & Company, a basin by Cotto and taps from Isca. -
Liani and Jan’s Welsh terrier, Frank. -
Liani and Jan Douglas in the main living area. The steel twist of the staircase is powder-coated in black, drawing the eye upwards. The black Armchair 26 by Alvar Aalto is from Artek, and the beechwood HAY J110 chair is from Créma. The coffee table – The Stonekeeper-MMXVI – was created by Douglas & Company for Southern Guild. -
The wood-and-steel dining table with a Formica top is a Douglas & Company design. The small artwork on the left is by South African artist Michael Taylor. -
Liani and Jan at the front of their renovated house. -
Another signature Douglas & Company furniture design – the Professor Seagull bench/coat stand – is tucked neatly under the eaves. -
The chairs in the dining area are a mix of vintage pieces (including an Eames Eiffel chair and an Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair) as well as a prototype piece made from slatted plywood, and a steel Quaker bench by South African designer and furniture maker Gregor Jenkin. In the corner is one of Douglas & Company’s best-known pieces, McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon; the hanging Diskus light fitting was also created by Douglas & Company. -
The chairs in the dining area are a mix of vintage pieces (including an Eames Eiffel chair and an Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair) as well as a prototype piece made from slatted plywood, and a steel Quaker bench by South African designer and furniture maker Gregor Jenkin. In the corner is one of Douglas & Company’s best-known pieces, McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon; the hanging Diskus light fitting was also created by Douglas & Company. -
The minimalist main bedroom has a fully glazed rear façade with glass sliders. The suspended track lighting is from Spazio, and the table lamps are from MRP Home.
PRODUCTION Sven Alberding PHOTOS Warren Heath/Bureaux
By combining respect for the charms of a heritage building with a contemporary architectural approach, an award-winning renovation bought this home – Arklow Villa III – beautifully up to date.
Architecture is the thoughtful making of space,” declared the legendary American architect Louis Kahn. In other words, it’s not always so much the “look” of the exterior of a building that is important, but how it organises space: the manner in which a house separates domestic life from the rest of the world, for example. Perhaps even more vital are the ways in which the area inside the walls of that house is used by its occupants; in short, it’s all about how it makes them feel.
A case in point is this recently renovated home in a densely developed part of Green Point in Cape Town. The original building – a semi-detached cottage dating back to the late 1800s – had some heritage features and the sort of charm that attracts many buyers. The new owners of this particular cottage, however, had highly original ideas about how to better organise its space.
READ MORE: Pipe Dreams by Douglas & Company
Liani and Jan Douglas are both architects, and in the last eight years Douglas & Company, their architecture and design studio, has produced bespoke furniture and collectible design pieces as well as working on a number of architectural projects. (Jan is also a director at Cape Town firm KLG Architects.) Their work blends a rigorous design sensibility with touches of unique wit – and, always, careful attention to detail in terms of the materials with which they work.
When it came to renovating their own home, these combined strengths produced award- winning results. Arklow Villa III, as their house is named (it’s on the end of a row of three cottages built in 1895), was the recipient of a Cape Institute for Architecture award in 2019. Douglas & Company’s work on the building, said the judging panel, transformed “an insular single-storey Victorian-style row house into a new delight”.
READ MORE: Kogelberg Cabins by KLG Architects
Invoking the idea of “delight” is a good way of describing how the rethought spaces inside this modest building feel. Liani and Jan’s carefully considered interventions began with lifting the angle of the back part of the original roof, creating a first floor that has dormer windows facing the street in the front, and a glazed rear elevation that allows natural light to filter through the entire house.
Further design decisions flowed from this key alteration, and the house now includes a spacious main bedroom on the first floor, with a bathroom and a private lounge/library space adjacent to this. On the ground floor is another petite bathroom, plus a further two rooms that can be used as bedrooms. One is currently a work-from-home studio and the other is set up to accommodate occasional overnight guests. The latter leads out onto an enclosed rear courtyard, onto which the kitchen also opens.
The ground-floor kitchen-dining-living area is open-plan. As a result of the exposed wooden roof trusses, plus the consistent use of South African pine to create new solid-wood floors and ceilings throughout the space, it feels far more expansive than it actually is. Light pours in from the south-facing glazed façade on the first floor, and the wood scents the air with its distinctive fragrance, adding a further dimension of sensuous ease.
READ MORE: Kerala Estate Cottage by KLG Architects
As a demonstration of a sophisticated architectural sensibility – a particular take on the making and organising of space – this house is exemplary. But it’s also more than that because of the way it feels: light, bright and inspiring. This is a home to fuel creativity as much as it is a place to sleep, eat and relax; it’s an abode in which fresh new ideas will be generated in tandem with the comfort and delight in which its designer- owners will be able to live here.
Looking for more architectural inspiration? Sign up to our weekly newsletter, here.
