Not your traditional luxury lodge, Cheetah Plains redefines the conventional, translating urban sophistication into the bush.

With his work well known for its modern clean lines, celebrated architect and ARRCC director Stefan Antoni may not be the first name that springs to mind when looking for someone to design a game lodge in the famous Sabi Sands Game Reserve. It’s a choice that has nonetheless translated impressively well, creating sophisticated structures that manage the difficult trick of being different enough to stand out, yet still blending into the surrounding environment. Natural materials complement the shuttered cement with feature walls of hand-packed mica, panels of rusted Corten steel, stone and wood, helping it sit comfortably amid the scenery.

To create separation and to help preserve the large trees on the site, Stefan fractured the buildings to better fit into the landscape. From the small gym, three main structures fan out, each containing a generous wine cellar, a library, and an open-plan lounge, dining and bar area that overlooks a pool and boma. Named Mapogo, Karula and Mvula after famous wild cats that have been a significant part of the history of this area, each structure has four bedrooms evenly split either side of these main areas, all placed far enough apart to be private but close enough to have family and friends. To enhance the experience of being in the wild, the voluminous roofs are cantilevered so that the massive glass doors can glide fully open, giving the guests a seamless interaction with the bush that surrounds them.

The long lines in the lounge are softened by the sweeping bend of a substantial fireplace, with ample use of organic materials evident in the furniture and fittings. Apart from the stunning array of South African art on the walls and sculptures that are carefully placed in and out of the buildings, some of the decor pieces could be individual artworks themselves. Many were handcrafted by local artisans in collaboration with interior designers ARRCC and Okha.

Pierre Cronje made each impressive dark dining table from a single slice of heavy leadwood, keeping the natural shape of the tree, inserting brass inlays in the cracks and placing it on curved golden plinths. Over this hangs a playful chandelier of a cascading rise of glass, hand-blown bronzed bubbles by Martin Doller, making you feel as if you’ve dived into champagne. The beautiful drinks bars were carved from solid travertine blocks by skilled hands.

“Ecoluxe” is the key marketing buzzword here, and the entire high-end village is solar-powered – this includes the game-drive vehicles, which glide along in almost complete silence. The grey-water treatment plant recycles this precious resource for the gardens.

Stefan sensibly decided not to blend in with more “traditional” safari lodges, but rather to stand out with a bush home. It’s maybe not unique in itself, but where it is situated makes it so, like a cut diamond on a plain pebble beach.

Regardless of its slick splendour, and with the help of the welcoming warmth from the staff, it feels like a wealthy relative’s house – which, for a short time, can become your home from home.

For more information, visit cheetahplains.com.

Looking for more architectural or travel inspiration? Take a look at the Khwai Leadwood Lodge in Botswana.

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Award-winning architectural firm SAOTA‘s first completed project in Sydney, Australia is a bold, contemporary home on the slopes of Mosman, a suburb on the lower north shore of the city. 

The design makes use of the property’s unique position: Recessed into the hillside, it sits on two adjacent sites and boasts wonderful views of the bay. This is all in evidence from the moment you enter, arriving in the double-volume entrance space with eastern views through the house to Sydney Harbour and beyond.

The site, which is accessible from two streets, allowed for the home to be split over two levels. The entrance is on the upper level, where guests walk over a bridge above the garden, and access to parking garages is on the lower street. Depending on your vantage, the sculptured facade is either bold or understated.

SAOTA worked with Sydney-based TKD Architects to realise the design, which was then expanded on through the sophisticated interiors by Alexandra Kidd Design. A contemporary use of materials sees natural sandstone, abundant in the area, used as cladding alongside modern concrete. The pale sandstone is offset with warm textures of wood and bronze used for internal cladding and screens. Offering aesthetic appeal as well as privacy, the angled bronzed louvres capitalise on the views, while minimising views inwards.

The home comprises five bedrooms, a sauna, gym, wine cellar and fully equipped cinema room. To make the most of the views and promote an indoor-outdoor lifestyle, there’s ample outdoor living and entertaining space on the main upper level – a covered outdoor lounge and dining area, as well as bedrooms that float above the underlying platforms.

Water has been used to reference the harbour and the main terrace is wrapped with a shallow water feature. On the lower level, a covered area offers more easy indoor-outdoor living. It leads to the dark granite pool and hot tub and uncovered deck, ideal for enjoying Sydney’s temperate climate.

SAOTA has an international footprint in more than 86 countries. View more of its projects in Miami, Bali and LA here. 

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Architectural firm SAOTA has designed a contemporary home in picturesque Cape Town that perches dramatically on the slopes of Lion’s Head.

The main living areas are at the very top of the building, making the most of the elevation. Designed with a purposeful permeability, from up here, the inside-outside living areas flow not only onto one another, but also straight onto the mountain. Breathtaking panoramic views command the expansive, double-height open plan space, which houses the kitchen, bar, dining, living and family rooms as well as a winter lounge, study and art studio at a mezzanine level.

The lower levels which abut the mountain feature six generous bedrooms, three of which can be interlinked for a family suite, and a double-volume entertainment space complete with spa, games and cinema.

The house, according to SAOTA, feels like a robust, seamless form whose functions are defined by intersecting planes, ceilings and floor treatments. The masterful interplay of light, space and raw materiality in the house complements the considered collection of contemporary South African art, working together to blur lines between home and gallery. Interior design studio ARRCC worked with furniture design and interiors company OKHA to bring the interiors together.

Check out more of SAOTA’s extraordinary properties here. 

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The Kerzner family has launched a picturesque mountainside residential estate on the Atlantic Seaboard in Cape Town.

It is the first development ever to carry the Kerzner family name. The world-renowned hotelier bought the property, which has served as the family’s Cape Town home, in 1983.

The ​10​ hectare estate is located on the slopes of Leeukoppie, just off Cape Town’s curving Victoria Road with views towards Chapman’s Peak, the bay, valley and surrounding mountains​. The estate offers 48 luxury houses featuring three, four and five bedrooms and priced from just over R20 million (inclusive of VAT with no transfer duty payable).

Developed as an eco-estate, each plot is around 1 500 square metres. The homes will have a unique designs with greening elements and the use of natural building materials such as wood and stone. With input from Sol Kerzner and his daughter, Andrea, each house is tailored to suit and maximise its individual site. All enjoy air conditioning, fireplaces in the living areas, en-suite bathrooms to every bedroom, provision for grey and rain water harvesting and high-end finishes.

Six architectural firms are involved in designing the homes of the first release. These include Dennis Fabian from Fabian Architects, Stefan Antoni from SAOTA, Sean Mahoney from studioMAS, Jon Jacobson from Metropolis, Sally Tsiliyiannis from Gapp, and Ian Gray from COA (Craft of Architecture).

The estate will have top security, a fitness centre, and access to Kerzner Hospitality services. The indigenous vegetation of the estate will be restored with fynbos, replacing all alien pine trees.

For more information contact Seeff (Atlantic Seaboard or Southern Suburbs) or visit kerznerestate.com.

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“I’m more about space than detail. I want the big gestures, with subtle minimal details; the raw approach,” said architect Stefan Antoni of SAOTA to a captivated audience of VISI Great Spaces guests.

He began the private tour of his home, situated in the exclusive Cape Town suburb of Clifton, in the mind-blowing main living and entertaining area. Here, as you step out of the lift onto the fifth floor (the 30 metre-high home boasts six storeys), the aqua horizon, where the rim-flow pool meets the sea meets the sky, is at eye level and the mountain slope behind feels like a continuation of the garden.

While sipping on Graham Beck mimosas and virgin gin and tonics from The Duchess, guests followed Stefan through the fourth floor’s four en-suite bedrooms, and onto the third floor entertainment level, complete with bar, cinema room, ping-pong and pool tables, a “James Bond suite,” as Stefan calls it, and a spa, all with panoramic views of Clifton.

Don’t miss out on the next VISI Great Spaces tour. Keep an eye out here for the latest dates.

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An architect bought a house designed by another notable architect, who based it on the iconic home of one of the most famous architects ever.

When Stefan Antoni heard that a certain house in Higgovale was for sale, he absolutely had to take a look. That particular house is well known among Stefan’s fellow architects in Cape Town for three reasons: One, it is quite simply a gorgeous house in a sought-after neighbourhood; two, Gilbert Colyn, who was responsible for the landmark Absa building in the Cape Town CBD, designed it; and three, Colyn based his design on the famous Glass House of Philip Johnson, built in 1949, and Johnson is famous for working with Mies van der Rohe on the Seagram building in New York, a modernist masterpiece that inspired the Absa building.

The main core of the house in Higgovale is an open-plan, almost entirely transparent structure, singularly suited to inhaling magnificent views over Table Bay. When Stefan first viewed it, the house had been neglected for some time. He knew it would require a lot of work to coax the soul back into the place. But that did not deter him. It was a challenge wrapped in a sense of professional obligation. An opportunity to remake history.

“The house was not protected,” says Stefan, “so if it were to fall into the wrong hands it could have been pulled down. And not many of these houses from the ’60s remain; it’s a rare piece of architecture.”

In the spirit of the original Glass House, Stefan merged three rooms to create an enormous open-plan living area. Downstairs he created a spacious den/games room with a roof light. The swimming pool was moved from the back to the front of the house, with a glass panel in the pool providing more light for the den.

The biggest challenge was the ceiling. With so much glass, the ceiling forms the most powerful solid plane in the house, so it was vital to get the right stain for the pine boards. Stefan struggled to get a satisfactory tint. “The ceiling was the one factor beyond my control,” he says. So you can imagine his relief when he found a specialist who finally got it spot on.

But the essence of the house remains its transparency. “When I’m playing soccer with my kids in the back garden, I can still see the sea view,” says Stefan. Yet they don’t really feel the need to lower the shades or close the sliding screens for privacy. The elevation of the house above the road and the neighbours means that taking one or two steps back removes you from public view – without removing the view from you.

Still, the gravitational centre of the house is the back garden, a secluded, lush corner on the slopes of Table Mountain. Stefan points out the trees, in particular some magnificent yellowwoods, and the frogs in the 18 m-long water feature he’d had installed. As we watch, three squirrels scamper down to drink some water, as if trained. It wouldn’t be surprising. Rumour has it that the Antonis are able to summon a full moon to entertain dinner guests on the front deck.

It’s deliciously ironic, really: The most transparent house in Cape Town is also one of the most private, its concealed corners enhanced by the light afforded through layers and layers of glass. In a very real sense, the house is a lived-in conduit for the sweeping views in the front and the leafy nook at the back.

The architectural legacy of this ’60s house has not just been preserved – it has been perfected.

Looking for more architectural inspiration? Sign up to our weekly newsletter, here.

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Sculpture meets function in the Steen planter range from Indigenus.

When architects branch out into product design, interesting things can happen. So when Peter van der Post of Indigenus commissioned Stefan Antoni and Greg Truen to design a planter range, it soon became apparent something special was on the horizon.

Much more than mere pots, the planters in the Steen range are sculptural objects that retain their visual appeal regardless of whether they are left empty or filled with plants.

“We’re not aiming to become a big brand,” says Peter, who started the Indigenus planter collection in 2014. “We want to earn our place as a quality design brand.”

The Steen range is certainly a step in the right direction.

View more designs at indigenus.co.za.

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Launched in October 2014, the Business of Design seminar brings together experts in the fields of design and brand building.

It is held over two days in Johannesburg, as well as another two days in Cape Town, where industry leaders share valuable advice based on their experience building and running commercially successful creative endeavours.

Here are just a few of the speakers we can’t wait to hear at the fourth Business of Design seminar to be held in August this year.

Stefan Antoni: Stefan is the director of SAOTA (Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects), as well as OKHA Interiors. With roots in South Africa, SAOTA is an internationally sought after, award- winning firm, with a footprint that spans five continents.

Andile Dyalvane: Andile co-founded Imiso Ceramics, and for the past 10 years he has successfully headed his studio in Cape Town’s Old Biscuit Mill. In 2014 he won the Southern Guild Design Foundation Icon award. Most recently – and a true career highlight – he opened a solo show at New York’s renowned Friedman Benda gallery in June.

Sean Mahoney: Sean joined architecture and urban design firm StudioMAS in 2004 and opened the Cape Town office. The Johannesburg office was opened by his business partner Pierre Swanepoel in 2000. StudioMAS has worked on a range of award-winning projects, both private and public.

Luke-Dale Roberts: He is one of the best known names on South Africa’s food scene. His restaurants, The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club have been listed amongst the best in the world. The Test Kitchen was recently named 22nd Best Restaurant In The World, and it was the only one in Africa to make the World’s Best 50 Restaurants list.

Tracy Lynch: Design consultant Tracy Lynch has worked across interior design, rebranding, visual communications, interior/design magazines and art direction. Her work has been featured multiple times on the pages of VISI.

Business of Design will run from 16 – 17 August 2016 in Johannesburg, and from 23 – 24 August in Cape Town. Visit businessofdesign.co.za to book your tickets.

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Christiaan Schutte (lecturer Maretha Olivier) won R5 000 in third place, second place (and R10 000) went to Paolo Kirsten (lecturer Derick de Bruyn) and the grand prize of R50 000 and title of Caesarstone’s Student Designer of 2015 went to Aimee de Villiers (lecturer Donna Wills). Congratulations!

WORDS Michaela Stehr

Caesarstone has announced the top nine finalists for their 2015 Student Designer competition.

The brief, titled A Space for the Soul, A Place for the Senses, was conceptualised by architect Stefan Antoni. The students were encouraged to design a space where the soul can rejuvenate and escape from the stimulation of modern living.

The awards take place in Sandton, Johannesburg on the 8 October 2015 where the top three winners will be announced. First place is a trip overseas for the winning student and lecturer to a design fair of their choice, worth R80 000.

Here are the finalists, in no particular order:

• Aimee de Villiers: BHC School of Design/Lecturer – Donna Wills
• Anke Schmidt: Tshwane University of Technology, Department of Architecture/Lecturer – Marinda Bolt
• Kyla-Val Azar: BHC School of Design/Lecturer – Donna Wills
• Paolo Kirsten: University of Pretoria, Department of Architecture/Lecturer – Derick de Bruyn
• Christiaan Schutte: Design School of Southern Africa (PTA), Department of Interior Design/Lecturer – Maretha Olivier
• Llewalan Drodskie: Tswane University of Technology, Department of Interior Design/Lecturer – Rene van der Merwe
• Lara Hooper: Design Time School of Interior Design/Lecturer – Anel Botha
• Kyle Weedman: University of Johannesburg, Department of Architecture/Lecturer – Jabu A. Makhubu
• Juri Abbott: Tshwane University of Technology, Department of Architecture/Lecturer – Marinda Bolt

For more information, visit caesarstone.co.za.

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A total of 54 entries were received this year, and the assessment panel was encouraged by the diversity of the projects submitted. Following several assessment meetings, the panel visited a total of 24 shortlisted projects, settling on the final seven to receive awards.

Seeking to foster architectural excellence and acknowledging buildings that set architectural standards in the Western Cape, the variety evidenced in the winners was impressive. Said president of the Cape Institute for Architecture, Simmy Peerutin: “In times of recession, it is very encouraging to see such a high level of design and creativity.”

“With three education sector winners on the list this year, it is good to see emphasis placed on creating extraordinary places for learning – and a welcome contrast to the high-end residential sector submissions that have tended to dominate recent years,” Simmy went on.

An agricultural redevelopment, a tertiary education facility, two schools and three private homes, which differ greatly in scale and context – from minimalist to rural, from luxury to compact – the winning projects were:

• Springfield Pre-School Campus, Fra Angelico Art Centre and Jasper Walsh Art Gallery
  Charlotte Chamberlain & Nicola Irving Architect
• Renewal & Redevelopment for Agriculture & Tourism Babylonstoren Farm
  Malherbe Rust Architects
• House Van der Merwe & Coetzee
  Meyer & Vorster Architects, Urban Designers & Interior Designers
• Unisa Phase 2
  MSa michele sandilands architects
• New Additions at St Cyprian’s School
  Noero Wolff & Noero Architects
• De Wet 34, Bantry Bay
  SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects
• House at Johannesdal
  Henri Comrie Architect & Urban Designer

The CIA Award for Architecture winners will go on to compete against the winning projects from all 11 regions in the national South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) Awards next year.

www.cifa.org.za

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