Tropicana – a new Miami art deco-inspired hotel by Robert Silke & Partners – revels in a few playful games with its architecture, its interiors and, appropriately, its price tag.

WORDS Steve Smith PRODUCTION Mark Serra PHOTOS Greg Cox

You can’t miss Tropicana – at least on paper. As you can see here, the striking hotel is a dreamy piece of confection that you could as much take a bite out of as step inside. Among its mostly monochromatic neighbours, the light-blue-and-pink Tropicana looks like it’s crowned by a permanent rainbow and staffed by My Little Ponies. Except it’s deceptively hard to spot in the flesh.

Rising from a small triangular plot of land where Sea Point’s Kloof Road forks, Tropicana’s pale blue-meets-pastel pink manages a trick of hiding in plain sight. Along with its curves and soft lines, the blue half of its exterior merges with the sea and sky for most of the day, while the pink folds it into the blush of sunset. Robert Silke, founder of Robert Silke & Partners – the architects of the building – describes it as having “an almost holographic appearance, like you’re not sure if it’s pink or blue or silver”. It’s genius… and a fortuitous stroke of luck.

“It was supposed to be white, like the Flamingo,” says Robert, referring to the nearby Bauhaus-inspired apartment block also designed by his team. “We sort of have an unwritten office policy that our buildings must be white, especially on Sea Point Main Road. But during construction, the client, Signatura, said, ‘Don’t you want to do some colour?’

“We initially fought the idea, and I felt some resentment… I thought, ‘You want colour? I’ll give you colour.’ With the gradation concept, I thought I was presenting them with something they’d never go for. But the moment they saw it, they were like, ‘Yup!’”

Like the trick it plays on the eye, Tropicana also fools around with its architectural style. At first glance, it seems a fun homage to the kind of tropical Art Deco that Miami’s famed South Beach is known for. And it is – but it’s also playfully subversive. For one thing, the way the balconies on the corners alternate and come off the colour-graded scallops breaks all the rules of how trad Art Deco would employ this architectural device.

“The scallops should have come all the way to the ground, creating the idea of a skyscraper on the corner. Ours go off at a tangent onto the balconies, which breaks the skyscraper motif in a way an Art Deco architect would never have done. It’s actually more in line with what Paul Rudolph would have done,” says Robert, referring to the US architect of the 1960s and ’70s known for his avant-garde Brutalist buildings. Strip away the pink and blue paint, down to plain cement, and you’ll indeed have a facade that’s more than just a nod to Brutalism.

“We love that people love our buildings and that they’re crowd-pleasers – but we also try to get a bit of real architectural muscle in at the same time. ‘Good’ buildings can play to both audiences – and there are some architectural in-jokes and references in Tropicana.”

Tropicana doesn’t just laugh up its powder-blue linen shirtsleeve, though; in its own way, it’s all about inclusivity. “Context is everything. Our buildings are designed to speak to the buildings around them – the pretty ones as well as the ordinary ones,” says Robert, referring to the variety of buildings that surround Tropicana, from Art Deco to ’80s and ’90s Pomo, and contemporary black brick and steel. “The hope is that if you speak to those buildings by incorporating bits of them into your design, you acknowledge them, and perhaps help uplift them as well.”

Another stroke of genius was getting Katy Taplin and Adriaan Hugo, the interior product design duo behind Dokter and Misses, to do the furniture and lighting. As with Tropicana’s exteriors, simply replicating Art Deco furniture in the interiors would have been way too on the nose for this project – so instead, Dokter and Misses designed a series of pieces that play somewhere between old, new, Deco, Memphis Group and Futurism.

“I see a strong link between early 1980s Memphis Group furniture and Art Deco,” says Robert. “When Memphis started to appear in Milan in the late 1970s, founder Ettore Sottsass’s pieces were basically all retro Deco. The Miami Art Deco revival movement started in the mid- ’70s, and was an avant garde part of design culture in the late ’70s and early ’80s, with Memphis picking up directly where Deco left off. The Joburg Memphis vibes of Dokter and Misses were, therefore, perfect.”

There is some clever fun and games going on with the interior materials, too. As game as the folks at Signatura were for Tropicana’s whimsical design, the budget was still constrained by the parameters of a spreadsheet. Fortunately, Art Deco was always about being decorative on a limited budget, creating cheap forms with bricks and plaster. If you wanted “premium”, Art Nouveau was more your bag. Deco was for the masses.

Not only does Tropicana’s curved exterior represent that affordability, but Robert, Adriaan and Katy have been pretty canny in mixing expensive and cheap materials. The terrazzo tiles in the passageways and on the kitchen floors and kickplates are, for example, quite pricey – or, as Robert puts it, “reassuringly expensive”. It allowed the team to use cheaper materials such as marble-look melamine for the bedside tables and coffee tables (as decorators actually did in Deco apartments back then), as well as employ clever tricks like installing wonderfully retro ceiling lights made from sheets of MDF, and cheese-light fittings from a local supplier.

The ceramic wall tiles are another example: they’re called Project Grey, and were purchased at Tiletoria for R130-R140/m2. You simply can’t get better value than that. What you can do is pimp them up by adding pink epoxy grout; together, they make a statement.

And then there are the blue vinyl floors. Instead of the ubiquitous faux-oak vinyl go-to favoured by most developers, Robert chose a standard vinyl that’s usually installed in hospitals. It’s not just hard-wearing but, in blue, it’s also fun – and, again, it’s period-correct for 1930s Deco. “It speaks of the sea and the sky… and the budget. It’s, like, R250/m2,” he says. “That said, I don’t think we could have got away with it if we didn’t have the Dokter and Misses furniture!”

The end result of all this is a slice of escapism, which is exactly what you want when you’re on holiday. Holidays need to be memorable – and yes, Intstagrammable – something Tropicana offers in spades. “Pink might not be your favourite colour,” says Robert. “You might not have it in your home. But you would endure it, and probably even enjoy it, for a few weeks while on vacation.” robertsilke.com | dokterandmisses.com

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Blok’s latest urban intervention, in partnership with SJ Artists, turns functional structures into canvases for creativity.

Blok, a well-known property developer in Cape Town, recently collaborated with the SJ Artists to paint murals on the ablution blocks along the Sea Point promenade. The transformation of one of Cape Town’s most loved landmarks is a prime example of Blok’s urban interventions, which are aimed at elevating public spaces.

The collaboration was led by Shani Judes who runs SJ Artists – an agency dedicated to supporting and managing mural artists and large-scale art projects. Having worked on notable projects like Wavescape Surf & Ocean Festival and Sea Walls South Africa, Shani’s passion for ocean conservation-themed public art aligned perfectly with this collaboration and its setting.

SJ Artists brought together three exceptional artists, each contributing their unique style, to create a diverse visual experience that captures the essence of the city’s artistic spirit.

• Russell Abrahams, known as Yay Abe, is a Cape Town-based illustrator celebrated for his colourful, playful, and transformative designs. His mural Ocean Daze is a vibrant depiction of a day at the beach, complete with hidden faces for passersby to discover.
• Amy-Leigh Braaf, known as Hakopike, is a South African artist exploring themes of self-discovery and cultural heritage. Drawing from her mixed Cape Malay and Indonesian heritage, her mural Coastal Lullabies is a visual poem celebrating Cape Town’s marine life and natural beauty.
• Mika Revell, known as Little Pink Pills, is an Asian-American artist known for her political satire, feminism, and historical art references. Her mural Impossible City, inspired by M.C. Escher, challenges perceptions of urban spaces and prompts viewers to reconsider conventional notions of home and community.

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With 2024 around the corner, we’ve decided to round up some of the most-read features on VISI this year. From luxe retreats to ultra modern beach houses, here’s a look at your top 15 favourite spaces of 2023 (and checkout our faves from 2022 and 2021, too).

Pringle Bay Home

As in most coastal locations, the ever-changing weather governs most activity here. When the VISI team visited to photograph this Pringle Bay house, our shoot began in peaceful sunshine at low tide, with the sea calm, and breathtakingly clear visibility right across False Bay. Then, as the tide came in and waves began crashing onto the rocks, a rainstorm crossed the bay, washing the crisp vista clean away and instead creating a dramatic, moody outlook.

Accordingly, this home is designed to suit all of these possibilities: it’s equipped with everything that might be required for indoor cocooning, as well as a glazed sea-facing facade that maximises the views no matter the weather conditions. The north-facing glass facade also opens up onto a generous deck, with a new all-natural swimming pool – built in a location-appropriate, raised “plaasdam” style – in the foreground.

Read the full story, here.

Yzerfontein Oceanfront Home

The barn was supposed to be a greenhouse. Located next to homeowners Jochem and Evi Elsner’s primary residence in Yzerfontein, the initial idea was to construct Evi’s dream of a next-door greenhouse, veggie garden and chicken coop alongside their home. “When the plot became available, we immediately thought, ‘Let’s buy it and build, before someone else does, and builds something ugly next door to us’,” says Evi.

Originally from Germany but having lived in South Africa for more than 20 years, Jochem and Evi’s prior address was in Somerset West. “We loved living there, but over the years it became too busy and built up,” Evi explains. “About seven years ago, we decided we wanted to move somewhere else, and Yzerfontein was the place to be. We had it on good authority from friends, and from the many photographers we know, that it was an idyllic location – beautiful and uncrowded. We visited the area and were sold immediately.”

Read the full story, here.

Scarborough Home

As the owners and founders of hope distillery, one of the first small-batch distillers of craft gin in South Africa, Leigh Lisk and Lucy Beard had grown tired of living on-site at their distillery in Cape Town, and wanted a bolthole to which they could escape every weekend. “Both Leigh and I are keen cyclists and runners who love the outdoors, and so the natural beauty of Scarborough and its proximity to the city made it an obvious choice for us,” says Lucy.

Initially, they had bought an old, abandoned tennis court in the coastal village with a view to building on that, but the prospect of a two-year brick-and-mortar build saw them buy an old one-bedroom, prefab home in the village as a stopgap. “We initially saw it as an interim house that would allow us to stay in Scarborough while overseeing the build – but we ended up loving the house so much that it has become our home.”

Read the full story, here.

Benoni House

Compact and low-maintenance were two keywords in the brief to architect Andrew Payne before design began on this project. The owners – a South African couple of Greek origin with two young children – were looking to downscale from the expansive home they’d been living in. “The owners were tired of being slaves to their home; it required a lot of upkeep, and they realised that they mostly only spent time in a third of it,” says Andrew, founder and managing director of Drew Architects. “They wanted something more suited to their needs as a family and, most importantly, a place they would not need to spend much time and money maintaining.”

Having found an acre of land in Greenfields, which they then sub-divided, the couple initially contacted Miguel Simoes of Vestim Construction, the contractor on their previous home, and asked him to be part of the project. Miguel’s only condition was that he got to handpick the architects, which is when he got in touch with Drew Architects.

Read the full story, here.

Sea Point Apartments

Situated in the middle of Fresnaye and the Sea Point Promenade, and wedged between a combination of dated flats, same- same modern apartment blocks and an excess of commercial entities, is The Flamingo. As with all structures designed by architects extraordinaire Robert Silke & Partners, nothing about this building is ordinary. Known for his love of Art Deco, Modernism and PoMo, Robert refers to The Flamingo’s aesthetic as “Bauhaus on heat”. Unlike the uninspired steel-and-glass high-rises infiltrating Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard and CBD, The Flamingo – similar to the architecture studio’s Tuynhuys apartments in the city centre and Anew Hotel in Green Point – is a breath of fresh air, with curved white walls, black accents and a spectacular glass-bricked eight-floor stairwell that makes you want to up your step count rather than take the soundless and speedy lift.

Commissioned by Signatura, with whom Robert has worked before, the brief was to create something compact and fun. “They came to us because they’re familiar with our work, and they knew we would give them something completely different from what is generally built in this area,” he says. “The development’s main goal was to be able to offer modern, exciting, fully self-catering micro-apartments, predominantly for holiday rentals and the Airbnb market.”

Read the full story, here.

Kenilworth House

You know, I counted every single brick in this house,” says architect Adèle Naudé Santos, smiling, as she stands looking around the main bedroom of the first house she ever designed – a solid Modernist four-bedroomer completed in 1967 and situated in a narrow, leafy avenue in Cape Town’s Kenilworth.

She may not actually be joking. Their modular layout, visible through the unplastered whitewashed walls, means you could conceivably measure the dimensions of the house brick by brick. US-based Adèle may now be a world-renowned architect, but back then she was just starting her career, and this was her first-ever build. And as if the stakes weren’t high enough, the client was her father, the late architect Hugo Naudé.

“My father didn’t want me to become an architect because he didn’t believe it was a woman’s profession,” says Adèle. “When I graduated top of my class in my third year at UCT, he told me it was time to move on – so I went to London to complete my degree at the Architectural Association.

Read the full story, here.

Scarborough House

“I thought I was a city girl – until I spent lockdown in Scarborough,” says South African film director Nicole Ackermann. That this small coastal village just outside Cape Point Nature Reserve in Cape Town is now her home was as much a surprise to her as it was to her family and friends. A place of wild winds and brutally cold water, its untamed beauty is not for everyone – yet it struck a chord with the globe-trotting Nicole the moment she arrived. “My time here changed my outlook and values significantly. Up until then, I was more outwardly seeking for inspiration; now I realise the value of looking inwards more.”

When the world returned to “normal”, Nicole found herself back in Los Angeles for work, but regularly trawling property websites in the hopes of finding a home in Scarborough. “It was quite a revelation that, although living here wasn’t necessarily what I had envisaged for myself, it was what I desperately craved.” So when this house came up for sale, her family were sent to check it out. “I remember my sister sending me a video that she took outside the back kitchen door,” says Nicole with a smile. “Hearing the cicadas and the sound of the ocean made me incredibly emotional; it was like a homecoming. Just like that, it was a done deal – I literally bought it unseen.”

Read the full story, here.

Fish Hoek House

As many couples did during the pandemic, Lauren Shantall and her husband Derek Eyden re-evaluated their lifestyle. To beat the claustrophobia of their new work-from-home regimen, Lauren, who runs her own PR company, and musician Derek would regularly pile into the car with their 13-year-old son Daniel, and make the trek from Rosebank in the heart of Cape Town’s suburbia to the Deep South – the colloquial name used for the slack-paced string of suburbs that hug the Cape Peninsula’s coastline. “We were waking up three, four times a week to go for sunrise swims,” says Lauren. “Covid meant that I suddenly lost 40% of my business – but it also meant that I could work from anywhere. We realised we could minimise our petrol bill and just move to live next to the ocean!”

The Mid-century Prairie-style house the couple ended up buying in Fish Hoek wasn’t exactly their architectural dream, but its lofty location against the mountain, with a view of both the Atlantic and Indian oceans, was. “It was one of those 1960s box houses, where you open the front door and walk into a rectangle,” says Lauren. “Derek and I knew roughly what we wanted to do. We measured the space, made little scale drawings and cut out pieces of furniture that we’d move around, trying endless configurations.”

Read the full story, here.

Forest Town House

The Colemans are not your average suburbanites – although chatting to the humble Audrey Coleman, now 90, you wouldn’t guess it. She and her late husband, Max, were active human-rights advocates during the apartheid years, both working for the Detainees’ Parents Support Committee, with Audrey also a long-standing and celebrated member of the legendary human- rights organisation, Black Sash.

House Coleman has major cred too. Built in the early 1980s, it’s a masterpiece of clean lines and geometric shapes and, though tailor-made to be its owners’ retirement home, it’s also a piece of South African design history. “Our son Colin was a student at Wits University and insisted that Pancho Guedes was the only person for the job,” says Audrey of their choice of architect.

Amâncio d’Alpoim Miranda “Pancho” Guedes was a famed architect, artist and educator, and head of the school of architecture at Wits. Born in Portugal, he spent most of his life in Mozambique. It’s difficult to sum up such an important figure in African Modernist architecture, but there is no doubt he pushed boundaries. Known for his sculptural and well-thought-out buildings, Guedes was inspired by surrealism, African art and Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, whose work motivated him to experiment, as well as by pioneers of Modernism in Brazil, like Affonso Reidy and Oscar Niemeyer.

Read the full story, here.

Paarl House

You’d be forgiven for inferring that the domed column that punctuates Pine Concrete House pays poetic tribute to Paarl Rock, the gigantic granite outcrop looming in its background. “You’ll have to talk to my dad about the metaphors of this house,” says a smiling Johannes Berry, who co-founded Brussels-based architectural firm Sugiberry with his wife Mayu Takasugi in 2016.

Fortuitous as the architectural echo is, the concrete-and-wood residence’s design was informed by a set of logical principles that Johannes and Mayu work according to,rather than any visual reference.“We like to consider the potential in what already exists,” he explains. In the case of Pine Concrete House, what existed was the double-storey home of Johannes’s parents, Roland and Elmine. “The initial brief from them was to build a double garage – but like most projects, it grew,” says Johannes. “They’re getting older, and because of the size of their house, we proposed renovating it so it could ultimately be split into three self-contained parts – a top half, a bottom half and an extension – so they’d still be able to live there, but rent out the two other spaces.”

Read the full story, here.

Monaghan Farm House

This house in Monaghan Farm in Lanseria, on a beautiful spot overlooking a bend in the Jukskei River, began with a bold, Brutalist architectural idea – but the result is an incredibly subtle, sensitive response to its setting. The owners, Wendy and Lukas van Niekerk wanted a home made entirely of steel and raw, exposed concrete, and this spectacular plot of land offered them the chance to build from scratch. Lukas, an engineer, is a huge fan of the work of 20th-century Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, who is famous for his sensitive use of concrete as well as experiments with concrete and steel – and the Van Niekerks’ architect, Enrico Daffonchio, went to school in Scarpa’s hometown of Venice in Italy. The fates had aligned.

Despite what Enrico refers to as its “strong architectural language”, the house they designed together is nestled into the landscape and, when viewed from higher up the hill, is practically invisible (helped by the green roofs planted with endemic grasses to recreate the landscape it’s built on). It is, quite literally, sunken into the landscape to keep its presence unobtrusive.

Read the full story, here.

Parkview House

I think the sunset sold it,” says architect Vedhant Maharaj. The outlook from this house on the crest of the Parkview ridge stretches across 270 degrees of the city’s urban forest – and the sunsets are spectacular. The character of this unexpected Modernist gem was buried beneath various additions and alterations, not least a steel mono-pitched roof that had been plonked on top. “But it had good bones. You could see that,” says Vedhant, who founded Rebel Base Collective, the multidisciplinary architecture and design studio, in 2017. A little investigation revealed the home had been designed in 1935 by a firm called Small and Schaerer, who created several well-known Joburg buildings, including Central Fire Station. By the 1930s, they were known for “an eclectic Modernistic style, with balconies jutting out at irregular spacings” as one account on architectural heritage database Artefacts describes it. It also mentions that their designs “tend towards the picturesque” – an approach that emphasises not just formal beauty but also a sense of the sublime.

Read the full story, here.

Modernist Durban Home

On first encounter, House Shaw is brutally simple: a series of three-dimensional boxes, positioned beside and on top of one another on a long, triangular site cut into one of the steep slopes that characterise Durban’s forested university suburb. It is made of face brick, concrete, louvre windows, shutters and a bit of aluminium; no need for paint, wallpaper, air conditioning – not even curtains.

The house belongs to Colleen Wygers, who lived here with her late husband, fellow architect Paul Wygers. Sadly, Paul passed away shortly after we photographed the house; with Colleen’s permission, we’ve included his observations from that interview.

Paul liked to describe the home as Modernism morphing the heritage Durban veranda home – and, when it went onto the market in 2013, the couple bought it within hours of their first viewing. Designed by Hallen and Dibb Architects in the 1960s, it had been commissioned by legal luminary Douglas Shaw. “Douglas Shaw was sitting in an Eames chair in the lounge,” recalled Paul. “We chatted briefly about art and architecture. I don’t think he wanted to leave.”

Read the full story, here.

Bo-Kaap House

If ever you’re asked to illustrate the Chinese concept of balanced dualism, you could do worse than to drop them a pin at 250 Buitengracht in Cape Town. Approach it from the front, and you’re met with a textbook Victorian cottage facade, replete with wraparound veranda shaded by a sweeping corrugated-iron roof – but walk around the corner and up towards Signal Hill, and the house spills over into a set of contemporary sheds. To the left, it’s flanked by the moneyed suburb of Tamboerskloof, with the historically Cape Malay area of the Bo-Kaap to the right. Inside, the house is split neatly down the middle into two almost identical, self-contained double-storey residences – one with a view of Table Mountain, which can be seen through a bespoke conservatory; the other looking out onto Carisbrook Street, and the Bo-Kaap and CBD beyond it.

“Our clients, Fred Durow and Ben Schoeman, are city planners, and bought the property with the idea of creating a double dwelling and work-from-home opportunity, as well as the option to generate rental income,” says Antony Abate, director at Team Architects. “We wanted to maximise the site’s potential, while being true to our ethics and beliefs in terms of urban design, contextual fit, scale and interaction with the streets,” adds Fred.

Read the full story, here.

Tulbagh House

It was six years ago, while exploring a “potential art project” in the small Western Cape town of Tulbagh, that Abigail Rands stumbled on this remarkable building. Her family owns a wine farm nearby, so she feels a strong connection to the area; and besides, she says, “I like beautiful architecture, raw materials and good art.” And this house had all three in bucketloads.

It is one of the oldest buildings in the town – the first monastery and mission school established in 1797 – and its distinctive gables, thick whitewashed walls, wooden rafters and thatched roof were the very embodiment of traditional Cape Winelands architecture. More recently, however, the artist Christo Coetzee lived there from the 1970s until his death at the turn of the century. For a time afterwards, the house was a museum dedicated to his life and work.

“A friend of Christo’s took us around and told us stories about each artwork. Everything I took in that day stayed with me,” says Abigail – and it wasn’t long before she came back. This time, she’d had an idea: she wanted to turn the house into a retreat of sorts; a place where, as she puts it, “you can let go and connect with how you really feel”. Later, her vision came to include a yoga studio in the old monastery building (which had once served as Coetzee’s studio).

Red the full story, here.

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The post VISI’s Top Architectural Features of 2023 appeared first on Visi.

The Flamingo looks absolutely nothing like anything else on Sea Point’s Regent Road… but then again, what would you expect from the team who designed it?

Situated in the middle of Fresnaye and the Sea Point Promenade, and wedged between a combination of dated flats, same- same modern apartment blocks and an excess of commercial entities, is The Flamingo. As with all structures designed by architects extraordinaire Robert Silke & Partners, nothing about this building is ordinary. Known for his love of Art Deco, Modernism and PoMo, Robert refers to The Flamingo’s aesthetic as “Bauhaus on heat”. Unlike the uninspired steel-and-glass high-rises infiltrating Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard and CBD, The Flamingo – similar to the architecture studio’s Tuynhuys apartments in the city centre and Anew Hotel in Green Point – is a breath of fresh air, with curved white walls, black accents and a spectacular glass-bricked eight-floor stairwell that makes you want to up your step count rather than take the soundless and speedy lift.

READ MORE: Architecture Round-up: 6 Outstanding Projects by Robert Silke

Commissioned by Signatura, with whom Robert has worked before, the brief was to create something compact and fun. “They came to us because they’re familiar with our work, and they knew we would give them something completely different from what is generally built in this area,” he says. “The development’s main goal was to be able to offer modern, exciting, fully self-catering micro-apartments, predominantly for holiday rentals and the Airbnb market.”

Each of the building’s 71 units has been smartly designed to be as compact as possible, with clever space-saving solutions and all the essentials required for a fully functioning apartment. Every unit has a sitting area, a kitchen (with glass hob, stove, microwave and fridge), a sleeping area, a bathroom with a shower, and a tiny balcony. With the primary studio apartments (there are a few one-bedroom units too) measuring only 25m2, the word “micro” is not being used lightly. However, thanks to their shrewd design, the spaces do not feel cramped. All front-facing units are cranked at a 45-degree angle to maximise views across Fresnaye and towards Lion’s Head, while the 16 sea-facing ones benefit from views towards the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to framing the vistas, floor-to-ceiling sliding doors in each unit allow light to stream in from the balconies, which are staggered and cleverly concealed from neighbouring apartments for complete privacy.

Another notable attribute, inspired by the building’s namesake, is the muted shade of pink that ties all the components together – from walls painted in Plascon’s Grandma’s Pearl to soft furnishings that mimic the colour. The team from Weylandtstudio were commissioned to create all the custom-designed furnishings, working together with the architects to execute their vision for the interiors.

And while The Flamingo’s insides are undoubtedly stellar, its facade is simply something else. “Creating five identical, perfect silos using square bricks and plaster is no easy undertaking, but these cylindrical shapes are a defining feature of the block,” says Robert of the exteriors. “The builders, Alpha Omega, called on Mogamat Jamie, an experienced plasterer, to achieve this – and he did a phenomenal job. The Flamingo is now the pièce de résistance in his legacy of work.”

Standing on the sidewalk taking it all in, you’ll notice that Sea Point’s newest arrival certainly captures the attention of passers-by, almost all of whom are delighted by its futuristic fabulousness. Unfortunately, since all of the units were sold pretty much immediately, a fleeting look from the outside is all you’re likely to get… unless you make a booking on Airbnb.

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Sonny and Irene, a new spot inspired by the rich history and architectural design of the seaside suburb of Sea Point has opened its doors, offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails and baked goods.

Part of the Kove Collection, Sonny and Irene give a nostalgic nod to the past, reimagined in a contemporary way. Drawing inspiration from the Art Deco movement that was so prominent in Sea Point, the decor pops with pink pastel tones accented with classic marble finishes. Touches of oak pull the space together and add an element of warmth to the inviting restaurant. 

READ MORE: Local Restaurant Zioux Wins at The Restaurant & Bar Awards 2022

The everyday bistro-style restaurant offers favourites from eggs benedict and scrambles to steaks, salads and mussels. The bespoke cocktail menu and carefully curated wine list ensure guests can pair their meals with something special. The restaurant also boasts its own bakery, run by Pastry Chef Chris Morrison as well as a statement cocktail bar with carefully crafted cocktails by local Mixologist Marshall Behaein that serves as the perfect spot for an after-work drink.

Alongside the restaurant runs The Pastry Bar, for quick catch-ups on the run. Expect smoothies, coffees, and baked goods making your morning coffee run ultra-convenient.

READ MORE: Cool Spaces: Doppio Zero at Harvest Place

“We wanted to create something special, something that was not-your-average neighbourhood cafe bakery,” explains Head of Operations, Alison Thomas. “We envisage this to be a place loved by locals and visitors alike – whether it be a morning meeting, a lazy lunch, or an evening of cocktails.”

Sonny and Irene are at 19 Kloof Road Sea Point and are open from Monday to Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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A new vivid augmented reality mural combines art and digitalism in an activation on Cape Town’s Sea Point Promenade by local artist, designer and illustrator, Tonton.

Maximilian Goldin aka Tonton has painted a new piece on the beachside stip that allows passersby to interact with the mural by scanning the piece with their smartphones through augmentedcities.co. Sponsored by Plascon, the bright artwork becomes animated and brings additional information about the work to the user’s screen.

Inspired by nature, play and imagination, the expressive mural is painted in Plason’s superior water-based quality acrylic emulsion, and is strong and durable enough to withstand the elements and harsh weather factors.

“The idea of this mural, titled Seaside Circus, was to create a playful and relevant piece of art which enriches the environment and brings smiles to all people, young and old, who see the artwork while strolling on the prom or driving by in their car,” the artist explains.

After receiving the go-ahead from city authorities, the art was completed in June 2021. “Combining art with tech creates something special. We’re excited about the creative opportunities we can unlock with Augmented Reality to bring this mural to life,” says Johan Walters, Producer at AugmentedCities.co.

According to Suvasin Moodley, Head of Decorative Marketing at Plascon: “We are thrilled with the outcome and would like to thank SJ Artists, the artist Tonton and all involved in the project for this amazing expression of homegrown talent. We hope that members of the public love this new addition to the ‘prom’ as much as we do.”

For more information, visit plascon.com.

Looking for more on art or design? Take a look at Yinka Ilori ‘s colourful basketball court.

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Local property developer Blok’s latest development, titled EIGHTONN, is situated in Cape Town’s Sea Point.

The five-storey apartment building features 18 modern apartments, all of which are water- and energy-efficient and divided into spacious, pet-friendly one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, as well as three- and four-bedroom penthouses.

The building comes complete with on-site security, access control, CCTV, high-speed internet, secure parking and water-wise fittings. All apartments come with oak flooring, undertile heating, Smeg appliances, built-in joinery, a fridge and dishwasher, gas top and electric oven, as well as TV units, desks and built-in cupboards.

“Nature itself is telling us to be more efficient and it is with this in mind that we have included into the design of the building a rain water harvesting system and borehole connection and filtration system which will connect into water tanks kept within the basement of the building,” says Jacques van Embden, Blok’s Managing Director. “This is added to the already efficient glazing, water heating and smart energy products and appliances we always include as fundamentals of a good building and home, ensuring we are working harder to create more sustainable buildings and living habits.”

When it comes to the design of the building, the interiors differ aesthetically to the exteriors. Architectural firm WAUW was inspired by natural fractals, aiming to replicate the balance found in nature.

The building is scheduled for occupation in summer 2019 / 2020.

For more information, visit blok.co.za.

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What sort of an apartment would a nomadic designer create for her jet-lagged self and friends? One filled with poetry and light and random sequins and art, that’s what sort of an apartment.

“I never wanted to be tied down,” says Karien Belle. “I’m constantly wanting to travel. I love living in rented studio apartments and hotels all over the world. And I would rather stay in a hotel than spend time doing house admin. But owning property is a privilege and every one needs a home.”

“So does this feel like home?” I ask, referring to the light-filled apartment in an old mansion block in the edgier part of Sea Point, Cape Town. “Home is everywhere,” she answers. “Botswana is my African home; the bush is my heart home. Delhi is my creative home. And Paris is my cultural home. I feel more at home in foreign places.”

“But what is it about this particular apartment and this area that makes you feel comfortable?” I persist with my questioning. “It is multicultural, and there is a little bit of chaos here that makes me feel at ease,” Karien replies. “Sometimes at night I’ll sit on my balcony and see all sorts of people and scenarios playing out below. I feel secure here.”

But even in this urban hub and within this 112 m² apartment Karien has created wide-open spaces for herself. She has sky views. Glass sliding doors open onto the balcony. This is a home in which you can imagine being able to touch the clouds. In her bedroom, the bed is low on the floor and positioned in such a way that when lying down you can see only the sea between the tall buildings that fill the block between the apartment and the Atlantic Ocean.

Karien’s home is adorned with beautiful things: artworks cover the walls, pink features strongly, and enormous cushions and scarves from her Karien Belle and Jetlag Poetry collections abound. Like their creator, they support and comfort friends and visitors. “Pink is my happy colour. This apartment needed to be playful. It needed this happy colour.”

But more important than all the stylish and beautiful things in her home are the people who visit and come to stay over.

“I don’t mind losing things or breaking things. What I value are relationships. And people.” The apartment seems spacious. And every thing in it can be moved around to create even more space, because Karien does not like things to be static. “I need to be able to easily make space to dance or do yoga.”

It is also detailed: a swath of pink silk here, some sequins there. An ornate neckpiece, a much loved book. But never cluttered. Everything has meaning. “As much as this apartment reflects me, so too does it reflect my friends. David brings bits from Botswana – stones, bones from the bush. The Baroque chandelier is a gift from Annette’s Paris home. Anoup gave me a painting from his boutique hotel in Pushkar. Kirsi from Finland brings beautiful design objects.

“Everything in my home has a story. And the stories are all intertwined with the people I love. This is why this apartment is everybody’s home. Everybody is welcome. Here, friends come and go. Here, I come and go.”

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Local interior design studio Inhouse brought paint, purpose and refined elegance to the renovation of this double-volume penthouse at The Fairmont in Cape Town’s Sea Point.

This three-bedroom abode overlooks the burly Atlantic, ideally situated to offer arresting daybreak and nightfall vistas from a multitude of viewpoints at any given time.

Inhouse was tasked with making the initially grey concrete box as alluring as its surroundings. Opting for flow with an air of masculinity, the design sees an open-plan layout coupled with a dark colour palette. Entertainment spaces feature prominently darker hues while private spaces, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, offer a softer, more subdued palette.

Natural elements like glass, steel, marble and mirrors make for timelessly elegant yet contemporary style. Walls and floors covered in various marbles whisper opulence beneath the rays of light shed by pendant fixtures and recessed LEDs. Wandering through the marble passageways will bring you to a whiskey room encased in glass and a statement spiral staircase. Upon traversing the staircase, you are lead to a rooftop bordered by unending panoramic seaboard views.

Check out other projects by Inhouse here.

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The new ARTEM Galleria in Sea Point features a parking-lot-cum-urban-art-gallery in a collaborative project by dynamic street art crew, Visualz Khorr.

A first in the world of luxury Capetonian retail centres, the former Adelphi Centre will showcase an extensive graffiti mural that spans across the entire parking area of the shopping centre. The fresh and edgy designs are the brainchild of Pretoria-hailing street artists Lethlogonolo Mathabe, Sam Shaba, Tebogo Qhingana, Patrick Rulore and Khutjo Tsebe that form Visualz Khorr.

Check out the videos:

The ARTEM Galleria, set to be completed in February 2018, is to host the prestigious ARTEM Gallery, curated by Eugenia Chapman Campbell. Eugenia spotted Visualz Khorr on Facebook and commissioned the group to transform the once dreary parking lot walls into a vibrant and visually arresting street-style art gallery.

President of Da’Realty Ahsan Darvesh explained that although graffiti and luxury retail are a seemingly strange partnership, their aim is to help promote the work of emerging artists of all practices.

For more information on Da’Realty and their work on ARTEM Galleria, visit their website here.

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