Built on what is probably the most perfect plot in Yzerfontein on the West Coast, this incredible beach house actually magnifies the effects of its beautiful surroundings.

There is a discourse in fine art theory that postulates a particular notion of the sublime. From what I understand, in this academic sense, the sublime is achieved when a work of art conveys the transcendental, infinite vastness of nature or the cosmos. Horizons that stretch beyond the picture frame. Valleys and vistas that seem to widen into the distance. The greatness of the outdoors. Angel song.

I was reminded of this as I stood on the edge of this beach house with the Atlantic Ocean roiling below. The house is internally terraced in such a way that there is a deliberate abruptness to the threshold between abode and nature. There’s no stoep or wall, so the dunes and beach and sea are are suddenly and literally at your feet.

The effect is stunning, hypnotic and meditative – in that order. It is as if the frame of walls and ceiling somehow magnifies the view. And more than magnified, it is animated. It leaps into the home.

As your ego disappears into the horizon, an ascetic bliss descends and your breathing begins to move to the rhythm of the surf.

The effect is sublime.

The main living area is divided by large sliding doors into two sections, with a courtyard on one side and the beach on the other, so you can adjust the space depending on the weather. In winter you can create a large indoor area that includes the courtyard veranda. In summer you can remove every wall between the courtyard and the dunes, and feel as if you are standing amid the dunes and strandveld vegetation as birds fly through the living room.

The house, named To the Moon and Back, is located at the very end of the southernmost beach road in Yzerfontein, bordering on Tygerfontein, a private nature reserve with pristine strandveld vegetation. The owners fell in love with “the best-kept secret of the West Coast” after attending an auction in town. As soon as this plot became available, they snapped it up.

Darryl Croome Architects, which the owners had worked with twice before, designed the house and Bou-Hardi from Moorreesburg was the main building contractor. “We had a clear and definite idea of what we wanted,” say the owners. “We are property developers by trade, so we are not the easiest customers. We told the architects exactly what we had in mind, but we always appreciate what Darryl brings. He surprises us with ideas that exceed our expectations.”

The interior courtyard is based on an indigenous convention, according to the owners. Most of the fisher-man’s cottages around here have sheltered areas, they say, making this a contemporary interpretation of a West Coast theme.

In the courtyard, two southern masked weavers are noisily building nests in a picture-perfect tree. This is part of their mating ritual – and if a female weaver does not approve of the male’s nest, she will destroy it. But if their immediate surroundings are anything to go by, these males’ nests should be safe.

The post Yzerfontein Beach House appeared first on Visi.

One of the best things the town of Strand has to offer is its 5km-long False Bay beach. A penthouse on Beach Road with views to the east, north and west takes full advantage of this prime location.

Twelve years ago, Charl and Josene Groenewald bought a modest apartment further down the street from their current address atop Cape Sands, a nine-storey apartment block with an unhindered sea view. “We used it as a holiday home,” says Charl, “and then for our children when they were at university in nearby Stellenbosch. I sat on its little balcony many times staring at this penthouse, which had remained unfinished for years after the rest of the building was completed.”

Eventually, he “nagged” the developer to sell them the penthouse as it was, which was pretty much the bare bones of the structure. “We didn’t know the challenges that would come with building on top of a fully occupied structure. Everything we designed had to either fit into a lift or be hoisted up the side of the building, and we often had to wait for a windless day,” says Josene.

Walking in through the red front door, the first thing that strikes you is the incredible sea view, which can be enjoyed lying in bed, standing in the kitchen or sitting in the lounge. In fact, the apartment gets so much light that one might not notice its black and dark-grey walls, which do a great job of absorbing the light, ensuring it doesn’t overwhelm, and framing the view.

This is one of many remarkable touches. There’s also the mezzanine level the couple added, which extends an en-suite bathroom into a spacious walk-in closet that also easily transforms into a working space. Then there are the concrete baths built into the structure, and what might have been a somewhat drab concrete staircase that is now covered in metal sheeting. Metal lockers replaced wooden closets. Throughout the apartment, there is evidence of the work the couple have put in over the past two years and of Charl’s expertise as an industrial architect.

Charl’s talents extend to being a very good carpenter. “I made that from a cedar tree that was cut down in the Irene cemetery,” he says, pointing to a coffee table. About the benches that accompany the dining table, he says, “These are slabs of timber that we bought, sanded and made into benches. The legs we made using offcuts from the apartment’s I-beams.”

Perhaps the best features of the penthouse are its three balconies, which take up 150 of its 400 square metres. “The balconies are on top of the flats below, so you get more space than you actually need,” says Josene. “That’s what we really love about the flat: We get east, north and west views – from the sunrise over the mountains to sunset over the beach.”

Although currently based in Gauteng, they spend at least a week every month at the apartment, and plan to move down permanently soon. “We’re older now, so we don’t need to be in the hustle and bustle of the city,” she says. “We love the outdoors, so every morning we cycle and jog, which is great with 5km of beach right on our doorstep. We’re also close enough to Cape Town that we can be there in half an hour for a bite at our favourite sushi spot, and we’re close to the Winelands.

“Strand grows on you. We’ve found it to be very cool; it’s like a well-kept secret that we don’t want to tell other Gautengers about.”

The post Strand Penthouse appeared first on Visi.

If you couldn’t make the VISI Great Spaces tour of Charl and Josene Groenewald’s Strand penthouse in Cape Town, watch a video summary of the event above.

You can also read more about the tour and browse our gallery here.

The post WATCH: VISI Great Spaces Tour: Strand Penthouse appeared first on Visi.

Tucked away in a Woodstock street, newly renovated Sussex Studios is where a globetrotting furniture buyer bought her first home: an airy loft apartment with million-dollar views.

You think you’re lost when you turn into Sussex Street on your way to visit @home furniture buyer Lize Viljoen in Woodstock. The buildings lining the narrow street are either derelict or seem abandoned, and a couple of scrappy cars hug the pavement.

As you stop to double-check directions on your phone, your eye catches a bright, renovated building a little further along named Sussex Studios. It’s then you realise you’re in the middle of another neglected Woodstock pocket undergoing gentrification, where industrial renovations become homes and businesses for creative urbanites.

Just like Sussex Studios, a 51-year-old building that was a panel-beating shop and factory before architect Etienne Britz of Boukuns Architecture & Design turned it into 19 apartments. Lize bought one of these in September 2014, her very first home.

“I love living here,” she says, leading the way to her apartment along the bright passage with large windows at both ends. “It’s central and I can walk to The Old Biscuit Mill market on a Saturday. The ground floor is for parking only, which makes it very secure.” She laughs. “Some people are shocked when I tell them where I live.”

Hers is a 74 m² apartment on the top floor with a huge loft space, so big she could have a mezzanine added for a bedroom, walk-in closet and study – increasing the floor space to 104 m².

“The ceiling slants in such a way that there was ample space for a mezzanine level,” says Lize.

With a buying career that takes her to the Far East, India, Europe and America, Lize has a sharp eye for spotting the latest in world furniture trends and developing them for the local market. When she gets home, however, she likes to be surrounded by stuff she loves. Old and new things.

Some of these things Lize fixed up herself, like her grandmother’s ball-and-claw dining table, which she sanded down. And some items were made up just the way she wanted, such as her two wooden kitchen shelving units, crafted by “the best informal carpenters in Woodstock”.

When it comes to her home, Lize knows exactly what she wants, where she wants it and what it should look like. Ask her father. Lize laughs. “My dad thinks I am the most stubborn person he knows! I insisted that the living room curtains stretch all the way from the ceiling to the floor, and all the way across too. Which meant he had to drill a hole right through a metal beam in the centre of the room to feed the rod through. It took him most of the day.”

With drops of sheer linen curtains now wafting in the breeze coming through large open windows, one catches glimpses of magnificent city and mountain views, and hears the beautiful noise of urban life outside, the shabbiness of Sussex Street below forgotten for now.

The post Woodstock Studio Apartment appeared first on Visi.

These local handmade sunglasses, or “eyewood” as Ballo likes to call them, are focused on recycling and sustainability.

Each frame is made from a unique blend of recycled paper and timber offcuts, which is then laminated using bio resin. The frames are decorated with a variety of fabrics or wood and the lenses are polarised for optimal eye protection. Each pair of Ballo sunglasses can also be fitted with prescription lenses.

Ballo eyewear comes in a wooden tube. Each pair has a one-year guarantee.

Ballo is situated at 35 Frere Street, Woodstock, Cape Town. For more information, visit ballo.co.za.

The post Local Design: Ballo Sunglasses appeared first on Visi.

If you missed the tour of the creative RADAR agency in the Bo-Kaap, watch our video from the event showcasing this bright and arty space.

You can also read more about the tour and browse our gallery here.

The post Watch: VISI Great Spaces Tour: RADAR Agency appeared first on Visi.

Couple Lené and Danie Roux didn’t let a niggly detail like a lack of space stand in the way of creating their dream home. Armed with a vision, they’ve proven every square metre can be utilised to its stylish best.

Upon being asked where the heart of their home is, Lené Roux, who shares a small albeit stylish flat with her husband Danie, laughs and says, “To be honest, there’s not a lot of space to go around, so I’ll say the whole home is the heart.”

Indeed, 60 m² isn’t a wealth of space, but with two resident designers, finding a sophisticated solution didn’t pose too much of a problem.

Lené says it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Despite being ideally situated in Cape Town’s City Bowl, the flat was dominated by dated grey-and-blue tiles and walls painted in yellow and green. Being creatively inclined, though, they saw potential. “We removed many of the tiles, repainted the remaining ones and the walls, added another kitchen counter and fitted more contemporary bathroom accessories.”

Next came the fun bit: decorating. “Lené is the one who comes up with the concepts and I’m the one who executes them,” says Danie. One such collaborative project is the picture rail that Danie fashioned out of inexpensive timber that serves as an exhibition space for prints in black and white that Lené updates when the mood strikes her. “It’s a simple and inexpensive way to change the look of the space,” she says.

Indeed, it’s an ingenious way to shake things up in a space where there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place – something Lené maintains is a necessity when there’s not much room. “In a small space, it’s important to keep things tidy; one or two things out of place will make it look really messy. You also need to be clever about storage. We put plastic drawers in our cupboards and under the bed, invested in a sleeper couch and bought a chest that doubles as a couch. We also try to keep things like toiletries out of sight. If it stays out, it has to be beautiful.”

The monochromatic collection of artworks in the lounge is a seamless extension of the rest of the milieu. All the walls are white except the bedroom’s, which Danie painted a dramatic blue-grey hue; the furniture is kept to a colour scheme of black, grey and white; and a dramatic wall feature comprised of perfectly spaced black crosses that Lené had laser-cut ties everything together. “We decided on black and white because it’s a classic combination and because, frankly, we’d probably get tired of any other colour after a while,” she says. Even Tonic, the cat the couple adopted from a shelter, fits in with the palette, though neither Lené nor Danie is willing to admit their adherence to a colour scheme is that strict.

That said, one can’t help but think it makes for quite a photographable moment when the black-and-white feline sits on the windowsill looking out at Table Mountain, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she looks like a prop in an expertly curated showroom.

The post Monochrome Gardens Apartment appeared first on Visi.

Hand-made and highly collectable, this stunning range of porcelain jewellery is the result of serendipity.

Sometimes, inspiration comes from unexpected places. For jewellery designer Elizabeth van der Merwe, that place was a pottery studio.

Elizabeth has been crafting jewellery and other silverware with Gerika Langenhoven under the label Amulet for some time. While attempting to make a sugar bowl to go with silver spoons, she ended up creating beautiful porcelain rings.

Elizabeth uses fine quality porcelain that fires at a very high temperature, making the rings extremely strong. Unlike traditional ceramic production – rolling out the clay and building it up with coils or using moulds – she carves the rings. “I handle the porcelain like a block of wood or wax, carving it away, which means that each ring is unique, like sculpture,” she explains.

Oxides and minerals in the secret porcelain mix, created by Cape Town ceramicist John Bauer, produce the distinctive stripes. Delicate yet substantial, Elizabeth’s porcelain range now includes necklaces, cufflinks, pendants and the bowls that sparked it all.

Rings start at R800 and are available through amulet-jewellery.com.

The post Designers We Love: Elizabeth van der Merwe appeared first on Visi.

This tastefully appointed office tower in central Cape Town deserves its green credentials.

On a clear day you can see forever. Or so it seems when you’re standing on the top floor of the new Portside building in the north-western block of Cape Town’s CBD. The distinctive mesa-topped mass of Table Mountain looms in the sky in one direction and then, if you turn your head, you find yourself looking at the curved blue swathe of the Atlantic stretching into the distance.

At close to 140 m high, Portside is the tallest tower in Cape Town’s CBD and the seventh-tallest in the country.

A joint venture between FirstRand Bank and Old Mutual, the R1,6 billion project ticks a number of green boxes. It was built with sustainability and responsible development in mind, and even existing trees on the land were retained. An efficient air conditioning system reduces energy costs, rainwater and grey water are collected for use in toilets, and recycled reinforcing steel was used in the construction.

Even the azure double-glazed facade is there for a reason beyond the aesthetic: to maximise available natural light and reduce the need for artificial light sources. LED lighting is used throughout and motion sensors switch lights on and off as needed, further reducing energy consumption.

In the parking basement there are 1 440 bays, including 70 spaces dedicated solely for hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles, charging stations for electric vehicles, 70 motorcycle bays and ample safe bicycle storage, alongside changing rooms and shower facilities.

Mixed use in the greatest sense of the word, the building has two separate entrance plazas, one for FirstRand Bank on one side of the building and the other for Old Mutual on the opposite side, and the ground floor comprises a vibrant mix of cafés, coffee bars and restaurants, all open to the public.

The internal aesthetics on the FirstRand side are a study in harmony. Clean lines, natural textures and wood tones contrast with the steel and glass of the structure.

Workstations are compact and business-as-usual, but the changes are rung in the chill-out spaces on every floor. Coffee machines, armchairs, board games, soundproof booths, balloon-inspired beanbags and even a pool table add an unexpected air of fun. Bold colours and patterns add a vibrant look and feel while harmonising with the clean lines and natural textures that are at the heart of the building’s interior design philosophy.

But that’s not all. There are “scrum” areas, a professionally equipped staff restaurant – it would be criminal to call it a canteen – complete with a vast open-air patio, and even a wellness centre offering some of the best views to work out to in the Mother City.

All things considered, it’s little wonder Derick Henstra from dhk Architects calls this structure “a timeless 21st century building – a modern classic”. And it’s no surprise the Portside has been awarded a 5 Star Green Star SA certified rating by the Green Building Council SA, making it the greenest tall building in South Africa.

The post Cape Town CBD: Portside Building appeared first on Visi.

A dilapidated warehouse in Cape Town’s Church Street has been turned into a gorgeous art gallery, Smith Studio – which opened its doors with a solo exhibition by Kurt Pio.

It is a dream come true for two Mother City friends and business partners: Not only have Candace Marshall-Smith and Amy Ellenbogen turned their love for art into a business by launching their very own art gallery, Smith Studio, but they have also given a 250-year-old double-storey warehouse a fabulous new lease on life.

Candace is the first to admit it was quite a journey to get where they are. A photographer, avid art collector and business whizz with an accounting back-ground, she knew the old pakhuis in Cape Town’s Church Street would be in need of very special attention. Not to mention vision.

After buying it on auction with her husband William and business partner Andrew Bonamour, Candace immediately called her friend Amy, an art history graduate fresh from a curating stint in Edinburgh, to partner with her as the gallery’s curator. So Smith Studio was born, the name referring to Candace’s surname as well as to a crafter, a maker of things. Smith is also a common surname, easily attachable to other names like exhibitions and artists’ names without stealing the show.

Next, they called in the experts to help reimagine their long, narrow space. And who else but heritage specialists Gawie and Gwen Fagan would ensure every little bit of the building’s history is honoured and restored to its former glory? Architects Reanne Urbain and Alex McGee gave it all a fresh and contemporary polish-up.

“We wanted the best of both worlds,” says Candace: “amazing art by new and established local artists as well as a beautiful destination gallery.”

Something Amy is especially mad about is the restored glass-front doorway, which is large enough to let in not only a car but also the First Thursdays art-loving crowd once a month.

“I look forward to all the possibilities the door presents,” says Amy: “Imagine large functions or exhibition openings stretching out of the door and onto the cobbled street.”

When Amy’s not dreaming of Smith Studio’s future ventures, her scouting eye is on the lookout for new talent. Once she’s set her sights on an artist, it’s a matter of guidance and support before they work towards a show together.

“Many artists have a background in illustration and want to move forward, try different mediums, change certain styles or simply grow. That’s where I come in,” says Amy.

And the upstairs area with its lovely light and sash windows? “It’s offices now, but our dream is that it will eventually become an exhibition space,” says Candace.

At the rate this duo is making dreams come true, it’s just a matter of time.

The post Smith Studio Gallery On Church Street appeared first on Visi.