The Haas Collective’s new inner-city design and advertising studio cum coffee spot was a neglected shell until three visionaries realised its potential.

“I have such a fondness for this space,” Francois Irvine admits tenderly, referring to the building on Buitenkant Street that dates from 1902 and now houses Haas. “It’s like someone you have seen naked, someone you have known at their most vulnerable, someone stripped bare. You see, I know and love every corner of this building because I’ve had my hands on it.”

No. 19 Buitenkant Street, opposite the imposing façade of Cape Town Central Police Station, stood in a state of disrepair for many years until it was bought by Haas Collective’s Francois Irvine, Francois de Villiers and Glynn Venter, who were looking to relocate their design, advertising and coffee business from the Bo-Kaap to inner-city Cape Town.

Nine months of gutting, renovating and decorating later, the building was transformed.

“On the surface, everything looked OK,” Francois recounts, “but as soon as we started chipping away at the walls, sheets of cement fell off. When we lifted the big green floor tiles we found layers of Novilon, which we lifted, but then we found a layer of crumbling concrete and when we lifted that we found bedrock with rusting pipes and electrical wiring lying in water.”

“At which point did you become disheartened?” I ask him. “Every morning!” he laughs. “But we persevered.”

Working non-stop for nine months, the three men’s own blood, sweat and tears are now part of the building’s DNA.

Originally built to house a fabric ware-house, the building has also served as a café, a lawyer’s office and a notorious nightclub called La Fiesta. It has now been re-invented as a creative hub and stylish café. Its dark grey exterior walls and an interior of muted grey hues promise sophisticated conversations and hint at flights of fancy, but Francois believes these walls still hold their memories.

Grey, it has been said, is the colour of a whisper, and it is entirely possible to believe in whispering walls when ensconced in the warmth of Haas. There is much murmuring in terms of sound and colour and soft textures.

The decor is voluptuous and luxurious, but it is saved from decadence by glimpses of industrial functionality. “When it came to the interior design, budgetary constraint was the deciding factor,” Francois says. “We had just bought the building, so we could not wilfully, wastefully go out and buy new things. We were conscious of reusing what we had in a clever way. Wooden tables were made from old beams and metal scraps, and chairs were upholstered in fabric I’d hoarded for years. We used what we had.”

And the feeling of the place is not one of frugality. “In my design, my natural tendency is toward voluptuousness, but here it was very much a concern to not appear too decadent, to allow for the functionality of the space to come into its own. But I did want there to be touches of flamboyance.”

Francois is quick to point out that his partners Francois de Villiers and Glynn Venter were also instrumental in the look and feel. “I would put an idea forward and they would generally agree with it. Once or twice someone said he simply couldn’t live with an idea or a piece of furniture, and I’d let it go. Not once was there a serious disagreement. We constantly marvelled at how the three of us, all creative minds, could work together so harmoniously. We respect one another, and I suppose that’s the basis for any working relationship or friendship: mutual respect.”

The result of this creative collaboration is one of authentic glamour. There is velvet and steel and wood and crystal and glass. There is porcelain and paintings; there are animal heads and a taxidermy hare watching over the space. All of which Francois says reflects our history.

“Many South Africans grew up in homes filled with hunting trophies. The taxidermy at Haas is a reflection of our heritage. Designers often try to replicate other worlds, feeling flattered when they are told their design is so Sydney, or so New York. People have walked into Haas and said admiringly, “Oh, it’s so New York, so Meatpacking District. I understand their intention is to flatter, but I never once thought to recreate something other than what we know. What I tried to create, literally using what we had, was something that was true to the building, true to ourselves.”

And he did; the approving stare of the hare and the murmurs of the whispering greys attest to that.

Visit haascollective.com or visit Haas on Facebook for more info.

Check out VISI 78 where we venture upstairs to HAAS advertising, the ad agency that sits above the most beautiful coffee shop in Cape Town.

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Who doesn’t just love Cape Town’s heady summer days? Kicking off flip-flops and hopping along the hot sand looking for a perfect perching spot? Sipping wine in the cool of an oak tree on a winelands farm? Enjoying a crisp lunch in a quaint eatery on the Atlantic Seaboard or Hout Bay? Shopping for a bigger sunhat in a funky boutique – with aircon? Even just going home and throwing something in the pan… it tastes so much better because you’re on holiday!

Not to mention that, because you’re on holiday, you’ve left your brain in the top drawer of your office desk, meaning that all your senses are enhanced. Except the faculty for choosing between all the gazillions of Cape Town lifestyle destinations. Wouldn’t you just love to sit up, fish out a smartphone and check VISI’s downloadable summer guide for where to go, what to eat and where to get the best glass of wine?

We thought so! With suggestions about fab and funky eateries, and even some cool recipe ideas, we’ve got your holiday sorted, all set for fun in the sun. In fact, even if you aren’t in Cape Town for the hols, download it anyway for the seasonal recipes, which will taste delicious no matter where in the country, or world, you are! Don’t you just love how VISI’s put summer in your pocket?

Click here to download the 5.3MB PDF.

Fall head over heals with the new Summer VISI 69, featuring dreamy holiday havens, entertaining essays and 34 reasons to love design, decor and architecture. 

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Lees in Afrikaans.

Oscar Lefson was an extraordinary hound who travelled the globe to highlight the plight of homeless dogs, and VISI is heartbroken to hear of his untimely death. We first met him in VISI 61, when Sam Woulidge visited him at his Tamboerskloof home. Here is what she wrote.

He has a lot of charm, this boy, and he is really quite attractive, despite his bushy eyebrows and short legs. In fact, that’s probably part of his appeal. Though Oscar is devoted to Joanne Lefson, the woman he shares his life with, he is not averse to a bit of flirtation, which is how it came to be that, at our first meeting, he lay on his back and insisted I rub his tummy, which I happily did.

I think he liked it, if his body language was anything to go by, but then he paid me no more attention. I admit I felt a bit hurt; I always lose out to the blondes. But on this day it was not only the blonde Ms Lefson who held Oscar’s attention; he couldn’t take his eyes off the chestnut squirrels. He barely looked at me for long enough to answer my questions but, when he did, he was, as always, a dapper little gentleman.

Oscar is the most-travelled hound in the world. He prefers private planes and business-class seats but copes well enough in coach. During his World Woof Tour, which started in 2009 and involved visiting hundreds of animal shelters in 31 countries during a nine-month period, he was accompanied by Joanne, who he credits as being his saviour. Together, the slightly anxious but fiercely loyal blonde and the rock star animal activist, (Bone-Oh?) have been raising awareness of animal adoption.

The travelling can be exhausting, and Oscar tries to keep fit and healthy by taking regular exercise and following a free-range chicken and rice diet. But he’s not too fussy and, on the road, in the air, or at sea, he’ll take what he can get. There’s no ego here, only a commitment to helping as many of his kind as he can. Oscar has been abandoned, spent time in a shelter and narrowly escaped death, so will do whatever it takes to make the world sit up and take notice of the plight of abandoned animals.

I asked him where he’s happiest? On a plane, in a hotel, or in the beautiful slave lodge conversion in Tamboerskloof? In gruff tones, Oscar reveals that home is where Joanne is; that he is happiest when he’s with her, no matter where in the world they are.

They have a special relationship, these two. They were married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator, which is slightly crazy, I guess, but theirs is a relationship of equals.

Oscar is not a needy dog and no lapdog either. He follows Joanne from room to room, but I get the impression he does this more for her sake than his. To protect her; to reassure her. They have an abiding love and commitment towards one another and although they aren’t annoyingly demonstrative, Joanne ensures he’s neatly groomed, allows him access to her bed and turns a blind eye to his squirrel obsession.

“Not bad for a mixed-bag mutt,” I muttered when I saw his lavish accommodation, the designer chairs, the dog-inspired artwork. Oscar’s eyebrows shot up, his ears twitched.

“I’m annoyed when people differentiate between dogs like me and those with pedigrees. I most certainly have a pedigree. We had the DNA testing done in Fort Lauderdale and it proved I’m a minor mix between a Pembroke Welsh corgi, a German shepherd, an English springer spaniel and a basset hound. So there. How is that any less than a lazy Labrador, or a pernickety poodle?” he eyeballed me.

“But what if you were to find these purebred dogs in an animal shelter?” I challenged him.

“That would make all the difference; the fear and loneliness unite us all.”

With that, he got up from the new carpet purchased for his pleasure and padded up the stairs to sit in his window and watch the squirrels in the tree – a dog glad to be home.

VISI’s heartfelt condolences to all of Oscar’s family and friends, after Oscar died in a car accident on Friday 11 January. A memorial service will be held on Friday 25 January at the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. More details on his Facebook page.

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