For two years, Thebe Magugu has kept a secret. ‘I was almost desperate to let it all out,’ he tells Wallpaper*. The 32-year-old South African fashion designer, who founded his eponymous label in 2016, marks its tenth anniversary with a landmark collaboration with Belmond: the unveiling of the Thebe Magugu Suite and next-door Magugu House, a concept store and cultural space for creative exchange.

Thebe Magugu expands his world

Magugu’s Afro-modernist language, underpinned by an Afro-encyclopaedic approach to histories, people and cultures at risk of erasure, earned him the prestigious 2019 LVMH Prize. That same ethos now extends beyond the garment, unfolding into a new chapter at Belmond’s Mount Nelson hotel, a property captured by British photographer Rosie Marks for Photo London 2024. He describes the project as ‘cerebral and eclectic’: a calibrated tension between English grandeur and African sensuality.

The relationship began three years ago, when the hotel hosted its salon-style Confections & Collections series and invited Magugu to present. ‘It wasn’t long before we began discussing bigger projects, and that’s when the idea of a Thebe Magugu Suite emerged. During the initial site visit, I noticed unused spaces next door and asked to take them over to form Magugu House,’ he says. Here, luxury is defined less by excess than by its capacity to bring joy to others.

Across both sites, interiors are layered with cultural reference, filtered through a modernist lens. ‘Juxtaposition feels inherently South African, from utter camp to puritan conservatism, tradition set against futurism. That duality was intentional,’ he explains.

He continues: ‘Too often, “African-inspired” interiors – especially when shaped from outside the continent – flatten into something one-dimensional, stripping away the sophistication, nuance and intelligence embedded in African visual languages. It was important to present a contemporary South Africa, rather than a fetishised, auto-exotic vision shaped by an external gaze.’

The two-storey Thebe Magugu Suite unfolds as a visually charged Afro-modernist sanctuary, with views across Lion’s Head, the hotel gardens and Palm Avenue. A palette of invigorating greens, deep indigos, warm neutrals and earthy ochres anchors the space. Natural materials – marble, stone, wood, wool, cotton and straw – ground it, while layered surfaces and finishes draw the hand.

Collaboration sits at the core of the project. Magugu worked with South African artisans throughout; there are hand-illustrated wallpapers by Cara Saven, custom-knotted rugs by Crayon Artel and Rugalia, and timber pieces by Ken Leiman. ‘The aim was to embed a sense of place through hand-finished details and objects carrying the imprint of their makers,’ he says.

That attention extends to the guest experience. Working with Mount Nelson’s tea sommelier, Craig Cupido, Magugu developed a bespoke blend exclusive to guests, moving from notes of vanilla and condensed milk to indigenous herbs such as impepho and buchu. Almost all furniture and artworks across the suite and house are bespoke too. Highlights include a sculptural pendant light reworking the mokorotlo straw hat, and references to rhebok footprints rendered as silk yarn ‘track marks’ across a circular rug in New Zealand wool.

‘The art is by some of the leading artists of their generation,’ says Magugu, ‘artists I’m grateful to call friends – Mmangaliso Nzuza, Lorenzo Plaatjies, Lulama Wolf, Banele Khoza, Zandile Tshabalala and Trevor Stuurman.’

Conceived as a living platform for cultural exchange, and developed with Studio Landt, Magugu House spotlights limited-edition fashion, archival garments, art, photography, books and objects. Programming will evolve through quarterly exhibitions, beginning with ‘By Our Own Hands’, featuring Zanele Muholi and Zizipho Poswa. Co-curated with Julia Buchanan, it explores ‘the hand’, positioning making as both articulation and resistance. Each season’s programme will span film, publishing and community-led events.

Both spaces – the Magugu Suite and House – are designed to enrich visitors culturally, mentally and physically. Guests are offered access to key institutions across Cape Town, from Zeitz MOCAA to Southern Guild, alongside Belmond Mount Nelson’s concierge-led experiences.

‘I’ve loved the collaborative nature of this project,’ reflects Magugu. ‘So many hands working in unison towards a singular vision has shifted my perspective on ownership – from “I” to “we”.’

Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, Cape Town is located at 76 Orange St, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa

Huddled on the quayside of Cape Town’s vibrant V&A Waterfront, the Cape Grace Hotel by Fairmont stands as a testament to the city’s rich tapestry of history and modernity – its recent redesign by Fairmont and renowned interior and architecture firm 1508 London nods to the city’s evolution from a bustling trading port to a cosmopolitan hub.

Inside Cape Town's Cape Grace Hotel

For its new life, the Cape Grace now boasts 112 rooms and suites with giant balconies and French windows (continuing its Parisian-inspired architecture) that overlook the marina and Table Mountain. The warm colour palette in the rooms depicts African heritage hues of deep blue, green and maroon, which complement whimsical bespoke rugs. A favourite already, the property’s two-bedroom Cape Grace Suite counts with its own private bar, butler’s pantry, a variety of local art and a vast terrace with sweeping views.

‘This unique hotel attracts some of the world’s most influential clientele, wanting to explore the city of Cape Town. We wanted to create an atmosphere that is timeless and elegant while referencing the glamourous heritage of the hotel,’ shares Hamish Brown, partner at 1508 London. Thus, the studio’s cabinet of curiosities concept works perfectly – rare items in shiny materials, rare books about the Cape region and singular objects collected from all over the country await to be discovered by guests.

An authentic South African story is told with every artwork in the hotel. Galia Gluckman’s two large-scale artworks made with recycled materials – entitled ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset’ – were specially commissioned for Cape Grace Hotel, carrying within them the wisdom of an African proverb: ‘There is no day that goes without the moon and no day that goes without sunrise and sunset.’ There are also works by Johannesburg-based visual artist Lulama Wolf accenting the walls with deep pigments and unique smearing and scraping techniques.

Heirloom, the escape’s new restaurant with a distinctive fauna and flora inspiration, is the vision of Cape Town chef Gregory Czarnecki, who is dipping into South African heritage cuisine with all kinds of regional delicacies: local hake, South Coast rock lobster and Karoo wagyu beef, to name a few. A refined plant-based menu is also on offer. And if you’re after afternoon tea with traditional Koeksisters and Melktert, the Library is where you can nosh and mingle whilst keeping an eye on the seals playing in the harbour.

The most highly anticipated is, undoubtedly, the Bascule Bar, renowned for its collection of over 400 types of whisky. Since the late 90s, it has been the go-to spot after dinner – it's like a touch of Monaco in the southern hemisphere. This June, the bar is scheduled to reopen with a complete redesign that embodies a speakeasy atmosphere. Many dignitaries, presidents, and both famous and non-famous guests have frequented the Bascule Bar throughout the years for the elegant, nautical atmosphere only a small town like Cape Town can offer.

Cape Grace is located at W Quay Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, fairmont.com

In 1991, a year following the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, Esther Mahlangu painted the BMW 525i Art Car with her distinctive Ndebele designs and bold colours. She was the first woman, and the first African artist, to contribute to the celebrated project, joining artists from the canon – Alexander Calder, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol.

In the townships, where Mahlangu grew up and lives today, these sportier BMW models were nicknamed ‘Igusheshe’ to roughly mean ‘it grinds’ in Zulu as a note to their distinctive engine note. These fast cars were aspirational products, admired by all and certainly not attainable for most. ‘I painted the car like a wall, and for the Ndebele people, if you begin to paint a wall, it means you’re announcing either a wedding or a celebration,’ recalls Mahlangu.

‘Then I knew I was good at painting: Esther Mahlangu’

The BMW 525i Art Car takes centre stage at ‘Then I knew I was good at painting: Esther Mahlangu’, the artist’s first retrospective, held at the Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town (it’s also referenced in the car maker’s Frieze LA 2024 reveal, the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA). ‘Back then, to see a BMW painted in Ndebele design was a huge thing for our communities,’ explains the exhibition curator Nontobeko Ntombela. ‘For Mahlangu to have turned this car into her art suddenly highlights these aspirations in ways that co-opt it between the African and Western.’ She believes the Mahlangu BMW Art Car encapsulates the tensions that exist in South Africa – the tensions of the modern and rural, technological and the handmade. 

Mahlangu is a national treasure. Almost 90, with her vibrant traditional Ndebele dress, her presence is as striking as her art. Born in 1935 in Middelburg, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, her mother and grandmother taught the young Mahlangu the art of Ndebele mural painting. 

Practised by the Ndebele people (primarily based in South Africa and Zimbabwe), Ndebele art is typically hand-painted using natural pigments, with acrylic paints adopted by contemporary artists such as Mahlangu for their wider colour choice and longevity. The vibrant geometric motifs associated with the art are painted on various surfaces, on walls, houses, clothing, pottery and textiles. And they offer both aesthetic and cultural readings with pattern and colour carrying symbolism, often reflecting the cultural identity, social status, and spiritual beliefs within the community. 

‘I would continue to paint on the house when they left for a break. When they came back, they would say: What have you done, child? Never do that again. After that, I started drawing on the back of the house, and slowly, my drawings got better and better until they finally asked me to come back to the front of the house. Then I knew I was good at painting,’ wrote Mahlangu, in a quote that has informed the exhibition title.

Mahlangu’s work is rooted in the centuries-long tradition of Ndebele art, yet hers is a unique approach to colour and shape that flows seamlessly between indigenous designs and contemporary art. She was one of the first to translate the Ndebele style of mural painting to canvas. Chicken feathers are her brushes of choice (although some of her latter wall-size artworks do involve paintbrushes), and instead of making preliminary sketches for her designs, Mahlangu works straight from the imagination. And she refrains from working in a conventional studio, preferring the more modest setting of her hometown, often laying out the canvases on the floor, and employing her family members as studio assistants. 

Mahlangu’s precise geometric shapes and abstract forms are created without the aid of rulers or masking tape, and the thick black lines that are a defining feature of her work echo traditional Ndebele beadwork. There are other signals that set her work apart: motifs of the razorblade for cutting hair appears throughout her work, as do streetlamps, painted at a time when electricity was not available to her community.

‘Seeing these appear in her murals shifts the so-called traditional practice,’ says Ntombela. The curator wanted to capture Mahlangu’s sense of agency, tell her story from her lens: a fearless artist with self-belief at a time when the art world was not open to her. ‘Naming the exhibition after a childhood scenario is important as it is testimony to Mahlangu’s defying spirit and foresight,’ she explains. ‘It is radical that Mahlangu would see herself as an artist when only ten years old, and in the 1940s South Africa. It tells us about her self-belief, how she understood her significance and talent.’

Mahlangu first came to the attention of an international audience in the group show ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ held at the Centre Pompidou in 1989. In Paris, Mahlangu created a reconstruction of her house to demonstrate the possibility of bringing her design onto an artificial surface, as well as transporting her culture into a global context. For the artist, it was, and is, critical to place Ndebele art into the Western art canon as a way of preserving its history. To show the significance of this moment, the Iziko Museums features a scaled-down model of the Pompidou house. 

Most striking, perhaps, are her wall-size canvas works created from the early 1990s, which hang in Iziko Museums’ final gallery. Canvas allowed Mahlangu to explore colour and design in new ways. Crucially, it made it possible for her work to travel and enter private collections, where most of her artwork was sourced for this show. 

Exhibitions of Ndebele art can often be about the collective, leaving out the individual voice. Curator Ntombela, a lecturer at Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg, believes this may explain why South Africa has struggled to show Mahlangu’s work and why her artworks are mainly collected outside of the country. She says there is an interesting relationship between South Africans and Esther Mahlangu. ‘This is a person who is celebrated around the world but we see as doing something that is everyday. In dealing with this I had to do a lot of un-learning and write a story from a contemporary position, and from a different kind of art historical engagement.’

Ntombela believes Mahlangu’s approach shows how indigeneity can lead to generative, expansive and creatively exciting art; how practices of culture can embody a modernist approach and intellectual processes of making. ‘She doesn’t become the sole representative of an otherwise collective or communal culture. Rather, she inhabits a complex nexus between tradition and modernity in all its constant reinterpretations. It is with this unique practice that Mahlangu begins to expand and trouble the canon and its conventions,’ she says.

‘Painting has always been a part of me,’ writes Mahlangu. ‘I cannot separate it from myself, and neither would I want to.’

‘Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu’, supported by the BMW Group, will be at the Iziko Museums of South Africa until 11 August 2024, after which it will begin a global tour, stopping first at the Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg before moving to the US in early 2026. BMW is working with Esther Mahlangu on a project to be revealed at Frieze LA 2024.

iziko.org.za

Summer is slow to arrive in Cape Town, but once it announces itself, always with delicate spring blooms, South Africa’s oldest city is revitalised and ready to serve. Framed by the enormous Table Mountain, Cape Town offers pleasure-seekers a heady mix of abundant nature and bustling cosmopolitanism. It is the country’s art, design, food and wellness capital, says author and curator Sean O’Toole, a long-time resident. 

Late summer is especially social, with the Cape Town Art Fair (17-19 February 2023), now in its tenth year, part of a vibrant art scene that includes the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. The city is equally renowned for its outstanding dining options, as well as spas with spoil-yourself views of ocean, mountain, harbour and vineyard. 

Explore some of Cape Town's coveted secrets

SAD Studio

This design concept store, located in the refurbished Old Cape Quarter, forms part of De Waterkant’s patchwork of luxe boutiques and fashionable pieds-à-terre. SAD – a jokey contraction of ‘South African design’ – stocks small editions by regional designers and artists. A handmade philosophy pervades its offering of fashion, jewellery and home interiors, curated by art dealer and restaurateur Baylon Sandri. Frances van Hasselt’s hand-woven mohair womenswear (South Africa is the largest mohair producer in the world), and artist Margaret Courtney-Clarke’s Swakara wool carpets, produced with weaver Moses Helao from fibres from Namibian sheep, are good examples of its small-batch, collaboratively produced luxuries. 

sadstudio.co

The Gin Bar

Initially an add-on to a trendy art gallery, now defunct, The Gin Bar has proven a durable favourite with Cape Town’s capricious smart set. Entered via Honest Chocolate Café, the premises are an amalgamation of various historical buildings, including a former funeral home. The jumbled layout, which includes an attractive courtyard and tiered indoor setting, corresponds with the upcycled aesthetic of the furnishings. Gin is de rigueur. The menu includes 80 local varieties, but it's the five signature ‘remedies’ that charm. Ambition, a juniper-based gin cocktail, is the most popular. The bar also stocks local wines and imported tipples.

theginbar.co.za
@theginbar

Battery Park

Designed by local architectural practice DHK, this pedestrian-friendly urban park and heritage site at a busy junction connects the lower city centre with the sprawling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront mall development. The elevated site was historically important. The stone buildings are remnants of Amsterdam Battery, named for the maritime fortifications erected by Dutch settlers in 1784. The elevated urban sports area tactfully conceals a 1,206-bay parking lot. Semi-circular curved walkways map the footprint of the original fortification and descend to eleven canal-side retail units. The canal is swimmable.

waterfront.co.za

The Spa at Twelve Apostles

Cape Town is less a city than a series of atomised hamlets, but this secluded destination stands apart. Situated on an unspoilt Atlantic Ocean coastal road between the ritzy suburbs of Camps Bay and Llandudno, the location – formerly a private home – was transformed into a hotel in the 1990s. Owner Toni Tollman oversaw the tranquil design of The Spa, a later feature, selecting the muted tones of the all-white crystal grotto. The menu includes a saltwater flotation pool, Arabic rasul chamber and – exclusively in Cape Town – Tata Harper face and body treatments, but it is the two mountain gazebos that define its allure.

12apostleshotel.com
@12apostleshotel

Between Us

This cult bistro occupies a refurbished Victorian home on fashionable Bree Street. The unfussy but refined naturalism of the interiors – exposed Cape sandstone walls, dark-wood furniture on grey terrazzo flooring, exquisite cut flowers – reflects the tastes of its founders, twin sisters Jesse and Jamie Friedberg. Roles are evenly split: Jamie is a quiet force in the kitchen, while Jesse handles the front of house. Breakfast means eggs: try the Persian herb frittata with smoked salmon. The yellow-fin tuna on the lunch and dinner menus is caught locally, and the Chalmar beef is sourced from the respected Wethmar family of farmers. The baked cheesecake alone justifies a visit.

betweenus.capetown
@betweenus.ct

Gorgeous George

Located on one of Cape Town’s major walkways, this 32-room urban hotel with a rooftop surprise combines two historical properties, one a former bank. The 2019 revamp subtracted very little from their distinctive art deco and New Edwardian style, culminating in a stripped retro elegance. Art is integral to the experience. Lucie de Moyencourt’s Delftware-style map of Cape Town in the foyer is composed of 1,800 hand-painted tiles. The rooms, while individually styled, all feature exposed concrete, leather headboards and original art, notably by David Brits. The first-floor Pink Room hosts live events. Gigi Rooftop, on the sixth floor, is hugely popular, both for its bistro menu (including wood-fired meats) and cocktails (the signature Gigi Club is a fruity blend of Tanqueray and Cinzano Dry). Timing is crucial: the mosaic pool is best experienced before sunset. 

gorgeousgeorge.co.za

Constantia Wine Route

Yes, the nearby towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are premium vinous destinations, but the Constantia Valley has bragging rights as the Cape’s oldest wine-growing region. Start at Steenberg, which produces sparkling wines in the manner of champagne but labels them Methode Cap Classique. Next stop is Uitsig, which has a credible chardonnay and like Steenberg offers reliable casual dining, as well as an outlet of Kristen’s Kick Ass Ice Cream. Wine aficionados may want to head straight for Klein Constantia, home to the storied Vin de Constance, a sweet wine eulogised by two intemperate Frenchmen, Napoleon and Baudelaire, and revived from obscurity in 1990 by the Jooste family, who occupy the historical manor house. The journey ends on a high, literally, at Beau Constantia, a former livestock farm transformed into a luxury winery with a view. Located on an estate known for its audacious private homes by Jon Jacobson of Metropolis Design, the Beau Constantia offshoot of Liam Tomlin’s admired Chefs Warehouse concept is here headed up by star chef Ivor Jones, formerly of La Colombe and Test Kitchen. Tip: bookings for the four-course set menu are essential.

steenbergfarm.com
uitsig.co.za
kleinconstantia.com
beauconstantia.com
metropolisdesign.co.za 

Bree Street Meander

Much has changed in the eight decades since painter Freida Lock’s house at 71 Bree Street was the informal headquarters of the New Group, South Africa’s first painterly avant-garde – Bree Street went vertical. It is home to Cape Town’s tallest building, the 139m-tall Portside by architects Derek Henstra and Louis Karol. For a taste of old Bree, start at the opposite end, at artist and patissier-turned-jeweller Katherine-Mary Pichulik’s gorgeous atelier, near Dear Rae, the must-visit showroom of freckled jeweller Karin Rae Matthee. The next destination is Always Welcome, a Johannesburg multi-brand coop specialising in local homeware that opened a showroom in a restored 18th-century townhouse on Heritage Square. Revive yourself at contemporary diner Clarke’s or Rosetta Roastery, devotees of rare single-origin coffees. Detours are part of the adventure. Church Street, off Bree, is home to ceramics enthusiast Michael Chandler’s eponymous home store; directly opposite, Keith Mehner of KM2K Architecture hosts an occasional showroom.

dearrae.co.za
alwayswelcome.store
chandlerhouse.co.za
rosettaroastery.com
pichulik.com
clarkesdining.co.za
km2k.co.za

Wallpaper* City Guide to Cape Town

Find out more in the Wallpaper* City Guide to Cape Town, £9.95, phaidon.com

When the charismatic Swiss-Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh took over the helm of Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa ( Zeitz MOCAA) in May 2019, she made it her primary mission to focus on individual artists. ‘So many ideas and positions [about Africa] have been lumped into group shows, and not enough work has been done on individual voices,’ said Kouoh at the time – and promptly directed her energies to overseeing well-received museum solos for Otobong Nkanga, Johannes Phokela and Tracey Rose. ‘That doesn’t mean we won’t do group shows,’ she pre-emptively added.

Honouring that promise and aiming for the moon, Zeitz MOCAA’s latest exhibition under Kouoh’s stewardship is a maximalist affair with a pulsing pop heart. ‘When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting’ features more than 200 paintings by 156 artists from Africa and its global diaspora. Jointly curated by Kouoh and assistant curator Tandazani Dhlakama, the line-up includes a who’s who of important earlier 20th-century painters, among them Wifredo Lam and Horace Pippin. The exhibition also leans heavily into the present, showing recent works by rising stars like Roméo Mivekannin and Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi alongside arresting pieces by market darlings Amoako Boafo and Amy Sherald. Gucci is the presenting sponsor.

Some curmudgeonly early viewers have taken issue with the exhibition’s easy embrace of the market. Speaking in March, nine months ahead of the gala event inaugurating ‘When We See Us’, Kouoh explained that the project was very much inspired by the ‘renewed prominence of Black figuration’ at market and in museums. ‘We welcome this development for many reasons, not least because, despite cyclical announcements of the death of painting, painting nevertheless remains a central and indestructible medium of expression used by so many artists in our curatorial purview – Africa and its vast diaspora.’

Medium aside, pronouns matter to a fuller appreciation of ‘When We See Us’. The exhibition’s title is a play on director Ava DuVernay’s 2019 Netflix miniseries When They See Us, a crime drama exploring racial antagonisms in America. ‘We wanted to flip things around and change perspective,’ explained Kouoh. By substituting ‘they’ with ‘we’, the exhibition places Black self-representation front and centre. ‘In all my work and endeavours, my drive is to create a language and a space for us to speak to ourselves, particularly because our humanity, our practices, our achievements, our histories have been so defined by others, by proxy.’

Shunning chronology or regionalism in favour of a thematic display, ‘When We See Us’ unfolds across six sections devoted to, in sequence, the everyday, joy and revelry, repose, sensuality, spirituality, and triumph and emancipation. The exhibition design – courtesy of Cape Town practice Wolff Architects – encompasses trim seating reminiscent of Richard Neutra, raw pine elements, curtains, and freestanding walls that enable overlapping viewing. Musician Neo Muyanga has additionally curated room-appropriate playlists, using music by Miriam Makeba, Ebo Taylor, Youssou N’Dour, NWA and others to add verve (or distraction) to the human encounter demanded by this exhibition.

A brief wall text introduces each section. The content is partisan and told from the perspective of an enthused participant, not a dispassionate observer. ‘There is beauty in our daily lives,’ reads a text adjacent to the exhibition’s opening two works. South African George Pemba’s oil painting The Gardener (1991), depicting a man tending a suburban garden, is paired with an untitled gouache from 1940 by American Romare Bearden that shows a woman with calloused knuckles bearing a harvest of tobacco leaves. The combination is revealing, beyond the focus on labour and the sublimated histories they gesture to. Among the 28 nationalities represented, Americans dominate, with 35 artists, followed by South Africa, with 16 artists. Artists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Nigeria are the next most represented nationalities.

But ‘When We See Us’ is not an exhibition about nationalities, which were already complicated by 1947 when South African Gerard Sekoto settled in Paris, five years ahead of American Beauford Delaney. Both artists died in penury in exile. Both have humdingers on show: Sekoto’s Evening on the Corner (1943) shows a gathering of five figures observed in low light, while Delaney’s untitled 1970 portrait of a man in striped two-piece pulses with light and colour. It hangs close to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s 11pm Friday (2010), a remarkable study of poise and presence, and the show’s midpoint. The Delaney is a fitting place to pause and draw one’s breath in preparedness for the thrilling surprises still to come.

‘When We See Us’, supported by Gucci, runs until 3 September 2023 at Zeitz MOCAA, zeitzmocaa.museum 

Cape Town-based practice Noero Architects does not design houses that exceed 150 sq m. It’s a self-regulation that underscores a fundamental studio philosophy. ‘Space is a luxury, a precious resource,’ says studio director Jo Noero. Intrinsic to his design approach are unwavering views about the appropriate ways in which to engage with the South African landscape. ‘In a context as complex as ours, you don’t want to exclude people,’ he says. ‘You can make a perfectly good house in a small footprint. It comes down to quality, not quantity.’

As a result, Noero’s interest was peaked when his clients presented a modest 200 sq m site on the extremity of a rocky peninsula, an hour’s drive from central Cape Town. ‘I liked that it was a small site,’ adds Noero. ‘We made it clear to our clients that we could produce something modest in size that would satisfy them, despite their lofty ambitions.’

That initial conversation took place the best part of a decade ago as strict local planning regulations, including intensive heritage, environmental and architectural legislation impact studies and fraught negotiations, resulted in an unusually protracted design process. Yet the extraordinary delays provided a wealth of time for the studio to hone every aspect of the project that would come to be known as Castle Rock Beach House.

‘This was never going to be a glass box,’ says Noero, when asked about the design concept. Cookie-cutter glass boxes with expansive terraces proliferate along the Cape coastline. ‘This approach makes no sense, especially since, along with the view and the sun, come the strong South-Easter winds,’ he explains. ‘We decided to create a glass roof and an internalised space where the clients could retreat. So when the wind blows and it is impossible to stay on the beach, one can retreat into the house, close down all sea-facing openings and open the roof, creating an opening to the sky that is protected from the wind.’

The mechanised glass roof is large – 6m x 3m – and has a bespoke solar shade system, which provides additional sun protection and prevents internal heat gain. Thickened walls, which contain all the services, wrap around three sides of the house, with the fourth (glazed) elevation opening up to the view and the beach. However, it’s the roof mechanism that’s the most dramatic gesture. The two curved, concrete beams, which support the steel tracks of the roof, mimic the outstretched arms of a swimmer about to dive into the ocean. ‘They express the pressures of the roof pushing upwards and outwards,’ says Noero. ‘A thrust towards the sea.’

Programmatically, the house is straightforward in its layout. Leveraging the sloping topography of the site, Noero has created a split-level space. From the entrance, you can ascend to the bedrooms on the upper level or drop down to a multipurpose space on the lower level. A dance studio is just one of those purposes.

The white concrete, paint-free walls su est a pre- history, and the house already feels like a long-term fixture. ‘One of the clients had studied archaeology and has a strong interest in rocks and clay,’ says Noero. ‘The clients also wanted a maintenance-free house so the finishes were chosen to reflect time and the effect of the weather on the building. We are hoping the house will melt into the landscape over time.’ The team selected a robust African hardwood timber (Afrormosia, which weathers to a silver-grey colour) for the external cladding and hardy vegetation within the landscape and on the roof, which forms the oft-forgotten fifth elevation.

‘We had a ferociously good builder who led a team of local labourers,’ adds Noero. ‘They crafted this house using traditional skills that have been used for more than 400 years.’ The painstaking attention to detail is evident in every plane of the home, including the balletic modulation of the bronze handrail, which caps the glass balustrades and the rounded edges of the expressed beams, plinths and so ts. Yet, the interior appropriately dissolves in deference to the landscape.

Noero Architects has challenged the notions of luxury in this house – all details are necessary, everything is beautifully crafted. ‘We need to stop the drive for more things,’ says Noero. ‘We as architects get caught up in prioritising luxury over necessity. We have an ethical responsibility to make space that is carefully considered, not wasteful. It’s time to stop the madness that has gripped us.’

As originally featured in the October 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*247)

INFORMATION

noeroarchitects.com

South African artist William Kentridge is currently the subject of an extensive retrospective in Cape Town that is split between two new private museums: the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Zeitz MOCAA, launched in 2017, and Norval Foundation, designed by local practice dhk Architects and opened last year. Although independently conceived, the Kentridge double bill represents the largest-ever survey of this prolific Johannesburg-based artist.

The two exhibitions share the title, ‘Why Should I Hesitate’, with Norval focusing on Kentridge’s sculptural output – hesitantly started in 1984 and definitively resumed in 2000 – and Zeitz showcasing his drawings, printmaking, films and tapestries. Nigerian curator Azu Nwagbogu, who co-curated the Zeitz exhibition with the museum’s assistant curator Tammy Langtry, described his exhibition as a ‘humongous and momentous exploration of 40 years of Kentridge’.

‘It is a big exhibition, but it was quite tightly edited from a large number of things,’ conceded Kentridge, who worked with Anne McIlleron and Sabine Theunissen on the spectacular exhibition design. Despite the remarkable amount of material on view at Zeitz, including unseen preparatory drawings and short documentaries describing how his works are made, the displays cover only half of Kentridge’s total filmic output and a mere 2 per cent of his drawings.

Zeitz’s poky exhibition halls have been given a makeover to accommodate the ambitious scale of Kentridge’s recent work. Previously shown at the museum in a reduced form, More Sweetly Play the Dance (2015), an eight-channel video installation featuring a procession of marching figures seen in silhouette, now elegantly unfurls across all 40m of its conceived length.

The procession is a key motif in Kentridge’s work. Inside Norval, the displays include a shelf arrangement of 44 diminutive figurines depicting, among other things, an aquiline nose, ampersand character and scissors, all recurring forms from the artist’s recent practice. The stouter shape and design of the works in Lexicon (2018) differ from the 25 ambulant figures in Procession (2000), an important early sculpture work that hints at the influence of Alberto Giacometti. 

Kentridge’s interest in marches and cortèges is traceable back to a drawing titled Arc/Procession: Develop, Catch Up, Even Surpass (1990). Zeitz’s show features a preparatory drawing for this important work dated 1989. It is displayed near a sombre linocut print from 1976 depicting members of Kentridge’s family holidaying in Cape Town, in 1933, as well as a sampling of his fusty neo-expressionist drawings from the 1980s. 

Kentridge’s career is a tale of creative drift across media, notably from drawing to film, and later sculpture. Recent projects like The Head & The Load, a theatrical spectacle recalling Africa’s participation in the First World War that premiered at the Tate Modern last year, speaks to his openness to exploring new modes and disciplines. This willingness to innovate, a hallmark of his two exhibitions, is grounded in a simple faith. 

‘For me drawing is the heart of the activity, even if the drawing is done with an actor rather than a stick of charcoal,’ said Kentridge.

INFORMATION

‘Why Should I Hesitate’, until 23 March 2020, Zeitz MOCAA and Norval Foundation. zeitzmocaa.museum; norvalfoundation.org

Multidisciplinary design studio Lemon has expanded its Johannesburg-based business to open a new showroom in Cape Town’s coastal Seapoint district. The fresh space reflects the brand’s evolution – it originated with wallpaper and prints, and now offers furniture and art.

Lemon is the brainchild of brothers Kevin and Ricky Frankental, who launched the product and graphic design studio in 2007. This new Cape Town space provides a centralised drawing board for Lemon’s design processes, and is a coastal creative hub for the company. The pair were drawn to a slower, residential spot in the bustling district for their vision. ‘The idea was to design somewhere that people would come to purposefully, rather than as a result of merely passing by,’ the team explain.

‘Since we started Lemon over a decade ago, who we are and what we do has evolved and grown,’ says Kevin Frankental. ‘Despite having been in business for some years, in many ways we feel we’re just getting started.’ Among the in-house designs including the Vondel marble coffee table and timber Winston sideboard, Lemon also distributes Danish brands &Tradition and Menu. Lemon’s edit comprises earthy tones, graphic prints and eclectic surfaces which echo the team’s broad skillset and experimentation – the studio has a unique make up of illustrators, artists, photographers and designers.

‘Being able to offer a full spectrum of products means that we can contribute to creating whole environments that speak to living and working well,’ explains Frankental. ‘By displaying our designs this way, people can imagine living with and around them – they can envision how they’d fit into their lives.’ 

INFORMATION

madebylemon.co.za

Bolstering an already expansive design landscape, Gorgeous George has just opened its doors in Cape Town's vibrant inner city. Located between St George’s Mall and the famed Green Market Square, the 32-room boutique property comprises two landmark buildings – one Art Deco, the other Edwardian – originally stitched together in the 1940s and now repurposed by local firm Urbane Citizen Architecture.

Inside, the Johannesburg-based interior designer, Tristan du Plessis has focused on a strong contemporary African aesthetic, dressing the raw, urban bones of the building, like the steel window frames and concrete beams, with a bold palette and pieces from top South African talent including furniture by David Krynauw, Gregor Jenkin, Dokter and Misses and Porky Hefer, whose crocodile swing chair certainly turns heads. ‘I wanted to go with people who were making really unique contemporary African design, like Jenkin, who is taking Victorian-style design and turning it on its head by crafting it in metal,’ explains du Plessis.

Diversions, of course, are dominated by Cape Town's wine, surf and mountain offerings, but don't miss out on Gigi Rooftop, the hotel's plant-filled indoor-outdoor bar, restaurant and pool space, where chef Guy Bennet serves a menu of updated classics – using fresh, local and seasonal ingredients – against a backdrop over downtown and beyond.

ADDRESS

118 St George’s Mall

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Though Cape Town’s latest restaurant tests new territory, FYN is actually the realisation of a space that acclaimed chef Peter Tempelhoff had conceptualised over 22 years ago, when he first started cooking.

Found on the corner of Church Square and Parliament Street in Cape Town’s inner city, the historic Speakers’ Corner location in which FYN sits is a newly restored combination of two separate heritage buildings, built as early as 1898. Having been handed the fifth floor as a blank slab of concrete, Tempelhoff tasked Tristan du Plessis of Studio A to create a hybridised space that blended Japanese and South African influences.

The resulting materials – which centre around ropes, beads, wood and stone – are evident from the second you enter the restaurant. Boasting expansive views over Table Mountain, FYN’s interior is in itself worth marvelling over. An expansive wood-bead roof installation from Christoph Karl floats weightlessly suspended above the kitchen counter, where diners engage in an interactive experience, with servings such as the crispy and chewy rice with white fish, aged soy and wasabi furikake.

In FYN, Tempelhoff compresses an elaborate menu thanks to a kaiseki approach, with small sequenced platings offering three or four courses simultaneously, many of which incorporate varying tastes and variations of the same ingredient, including the unmissable daikon four ways.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

5th Floor
Speakers Corner
37 Parliament Str

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An organic green grocer and coffee shop have been designed by young South African design firm Master Studio, creating a duo of visually connected spots in the emerging Cape Town suburb of Sea Point. Despite their different functions, the design-focused boutiques employ the same material palette, ethos and atmosphere, as envisioned by their steadfast designer.

Yaniv Chen, co-founder of Master Studio, secured the project because of ‘one key principle'. ‘When you’re a young company like we are, you’re on the hunt for an aesthetic that is unique to you,' he explains. ‘It's very easy in today’s age for design to become derivative. What got us in the door was our understanding of the balance between minimalism and warmth, alongside our emphasis on the past, which we translate into a contemporary context.'

According to Chen (who lives in the area), the locale is changing by the day. ‘The community has become quite young and exciting,' he explains, referencing the growing bicycle commuter-culture, which is ‘great for the city, and obviously our carbon footprint'; a restaurant called The Shop, ‘opened by a lovely husband-and-wife team, with fantastic food and the original 1970s and 80s vernacular of Sea Point instilled in the design'; and Hescheng restaurant, which is ‘not beautiful, but offers the best Chinese food in Cape Town, and has been there forever.’ The influx of foot traffic into the area has allowed businesses like this to thrive; something that makes Chen ‘personally, incredibly happy.’

Paulines, the coffee shop Master Studio has just completed, has attracted coffee culture vultures. ‘On this end of Sea Point there were no coffee shops until Paulines opened,' Chen explains. ‘It has added huge value, and created a fantastic street culture that wasn’t here before.' The narrow, standing-room only coffee bar pairs texturally interesting walls clad in Sisal (a natural fibre from the Agave plant) with the clean, functional lines of a Corian bar, together forming a space you'll want to linger in long after your espresso has been drained.

Chen was keen to reflect the district that he respects and calls home in each of the interiors. ‘Each store integrates the suburb's architectural vernacular into the space’s fabricated forms,' he adds. ‘Throughout Sea Point, there is a strong art deco influence, and we wanted to pay homage to the South African architects of the past by creating curved forms juxtaposed by strong linear elements.'

Chen chose to maintain simplicity, providing a plain vessel for the products to be displayed, opposed to a space with superfluous design elements. Characterful warmth breaks up the clean lines, in the form of Supawood – a hardy substrate made of compressed sawdust. ‘In keeping with the stores' holistic ideology we chose to line the space with this material. No piece is the same, and colours change in accordance with the wood the sawdust comes from.'

Sans (a mini department store and green grocer) is inspired by Japanese woodworking techniques, craft, and tradition; three things upheld by each product stocked inside. Master Studio respected this methodology by creating all of its own joinery, with no screws, nails or bolts, particularly in the architecture of movable shelving units that delineate the multi-purpose space into separate food and furniture sections.

The two, street-facing boutiques are a stone’s throw from each other, and their shared aesthetic gives the district a unique visual identity. But the area remains in flux. ‘Many property development companies are sadly demolishing the old Victorian houses and art deco apartment blocks, building soulless grey apartment buildings in an effort to further gentrify Sea Point,’ Chen explains. Not on his watch. Master Studio is currently on a mission to restore and save a heritage home in the area. If these three Sea Point projects are anything to go by, expect a thoughtful fusion of styles, ages and materials that respect the tradition of this somewhat unlikely Cape Town suburb, while nodding to the potential of its future. 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Master Studio website

Set on a hillside in Cape Town’s Bantry Bay, is a landmark Edwardian mansion dating back to 1906. Formerly the private residence of the shipping magnate, Sir John Ellerman, the property has since been transformed into an exclusive boutique hotel by its current owner, businessman Paul Harris, who had a vision to provide a destination with ‘the best South Africa has to offer’.

Over the past 25 years, this has meant ongoing updates that today includes an impressive terraced garden, which has been landscaped with indigenous plants from proteas to fynbos; a staggering collection of South African art that has also extended to the opening of an onsite modern art gallery; and a 7,500-strong collection of South African wines.

The hotel’s latest addition – and a good spot to sample those bottles – is Bar Roc. Here, Adam Court of local outfit OKHA Interiors, has embellished raw, exposed stone walls with solid brass details, petrol blue and bottle green velvet furnishings, terrazzo flooring (which extends to the sleek bar) and subtle concealed lighting that highlights the carefully curated artwork. 

Bar Roc is the perfect spot to soak up those spectacular sea views with a sundowner, after a day spent languishing in the spa, or perhaps to enjoy a cosy postprandial tipple after dinner at the restaurant. Here, chef Grant Daniels sends out South African-inspired fare including tasty curries, that nod to his Cape Malay roots.

Not open to the public, the 13-room Ellerman House is a quiet bolthole that has retained the intimacy of a private house – not least with thoughtful inclusions such as the guilt-inducing snack pantry that encourages you to literally get your hand caught in the cookie jar.

ADDRESS

180 Kloof Rd

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British designer Thomas Heatherwick’s restoration and reinterpretation of the old grain silo in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront as the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) was always going to be a head-turner. From afar, its pillowy bubble-wrap façade is a striking contrast to the area’s industrialised silhouette and since its recent opening, it’s been drawing an appreciative audience as much for its soaring cathedral-like interiors as for the views of the surrounds, harbour and the imposing backdrop of Table Mountain.

Rather cleverly, Aleit Swanepoel – founder of the Aleit Group, the country’s leading wedding planner and, therefore, a man who understands a thing or two about making dramatic statements – has been tapped to capitalise on those views, the top floor given over for the new Zeitz Café.

Local design firm K/M2K has resisted the temptation to go off-script, cleaving, instead, to the building’s industrial origins through the use of hard surfaces like steel and polished concrete with lashings of timber for warmth.

Executive chef Christopher Law unfurls a menu of modern bistro-style dishes accented with modern African flavours. To wit – a Reuben sandwich filled with lightly smoked South African beef that’s spiked with kimchi, and seabass flavoured with fennel, saffron and orange.

ADDRESS

Zeitz MOCAA
V&A Waterfront
Silo District
S Arm Road
Cape Town 8001

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While Cape Town’s winelands suffer no shortage of lush estates, few have successfully fused the area’s Cape Dutch heritage with contemporary design in their original settings. Krone’s reimagining of its Twee Jonge Gezellen farm was a two-year project in which architect Rick Stander looked at how the estate’s interlinking buildings could find new purpose. Along with interior designer Tracy Lynch, Stander needed to refresh the space without losing any of its three-century spanning history.

The outcome – a newly renovated tasting room – is accessed via the farm’s earliest entrance, before guiding visitors through glass doors and into the arched entryway of the reception area, overhung by a woven metallic light cluster. Acknowledging the architecture of the national monument, whitewashed walls and clean design leave the Cape Dutch legacy untouched, hosting a gallery-like space in which nothing feels permanent. A rotating collection of modern artwork is anchored around freestanding industrial design pieces and metal sculpture in the deliberately minimalist rooms, tied together by a theme of spherical motifs that manifest throughout the decor. Take it in from the raised terrace while looking out over the valley with a glass of one of the best vintage-only bubbles South Africa has to offer.

ADDRESS

Twee Jonge Gezellen Estate Road
Tulbagh

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Located in South Africa’s oldest working harbour against a backdrop of Table Mountain, Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, as popular opinion will tell you, cannot be bettered. And while property development has swept the eternally buzzing area, a few heritage icons have remained untouched. So, when the V&A deliberated on the fate of the country’s former grain silo building, it was a given that it would become something special. Now, some sixteen years after granary operations ceased, the Mother City welcomes its latest gem, The Silo Hotel.

Originally built in 1924, the silo’s grain elevator plays home to the property, occupying the six floors above Zeitz MOCAA – the highly anticipated Museum of Contemporary African Art due to open later this year. Outside, London-based designer Thomas Heatherwick has maintained the landmark’s skyline status as a harbour beacon, with dramatic glass-pillowed windows, bubble-wrapping the façade. All 82 of the Heatherwick Studio creations were locally manufactured and crane-lifted, paying homage to the building’s history as the half-grain geometries glow outwardly at night.

Inside, owner Liz Biden has created eccentric interiors to soften the industrial inheritances. Egyptian chandeliers take advantage of ceiling heights, while the walls are in keeping with the Zeitz MOCAA exhibits below, hosting contemporary African works with commissions from Frances Goodman, Jody Paulsen and Pierre Carl Vermeulen. Most notable in all 28 rooms are the signature bathrooms: equally sized throughout, guests can soak in spectacular city views from the tub, unhindered by the floor-to-ceiling glass portholes. Those seeking out further relaxation can find it in a five-room spa that rounds out the fourth floor.

While a profusion of restaurants are within walking distance, Executive Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert will tempt most to stay in. The Willaston Bar – named after the first European-bound grain ship to leave the silo complex – is the perfect spot for a cocktail before heading to The Granary, where Canha-Hibbert’s French bistro menu is filled with classics such as bouillabaisse and steak frites. For a simplified menu, the eleventh floor hosts a rooftop bar and restaurant, wrapped by a pool and viewing deck. Atop Sub-Sahara’s once-tallest building, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d experienced the best of the city, without having taken a step out the hotel’s front door.

ADDRESS

Silo Square, V&A Waterfront

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Kim Benatar and Sian Fisher, co-founders of Three14 Architects, persuaded their client to demolish his home of ten years to create this calm, contemporary cuboid in Bantry Bay, Cape Town. In with the new! We say. Looking for an open-plan home that was elegant, yet easy, a peaceful backdrop to his routine and a space that would transform easily to entertain guests, their client made a brave decision, yet a life-changing one with House OVD525.

Using exposed off-shutter concrete, the architects created strong vertical flanking walls to define ‘voids’ of living space, then slotted in a series of horizontal slabs, which extend as platforms for the gardens, decks and pool.

Take an interactive tour of House OVD525

‘The exaggerated thickness [of the concrete] provides a sense of privacy, containment and intimacy whilst creating a strong visual framing for the spectacular views beyond,’ says Fisher, principal architect at Three14, whose main challenge was to balance privacy and openness.

The house sits on a steep mountainside, looking out across views of Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard, Robben Island and into arresting ocean sunsets. The house responds in its form to the views, particularly with the master bedroom: ‘We worked very hard with our engineers to achieve the aggressive cantilever of the master bedroom suite which hovers over the external entertainment and pool area in order to capitalize on the views. From the living room, this is experienced as the planked concrete soffit stretches out towards the horizon,’ says Benatar, principal architect.

The architects designed the home to be open to the striking ocean views

The house is a contemporary contrast to the neighbouring architecture. From the street view, a double-layer of laser cut perforated aluminium sheeting, suspended over an entry forecourt below, can be seen, lightly shielding the house.

‘Locally, punched aluminium screening is not an unusual material, especially in the commercial realm, but is far less prevalent in the residential arena,’ says Fisher of the material, which acts as a smooth and speckled shell, protecting the serene environment within. ‘On the screen one can see the pixelated form of a tree, which was specifically selected, and held meaning to our client. This screened façade offers privacy from the street whilst allowing interesting light penetration over different times of day and glimpses out towards the mountain from the internal spaces behind.’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Three14 Architects website

Cape Town's De Waterkant has steadily pocketed a burgeoning collection of the city's chicest upmarket boutique stores, restaurants and hotels, having locked in its status as one of the most design-savvy enclaves. No surprise then, that when Jenny Kouwenhoven sought out a space to debut her flagship beauty concept, the suburb offered a perfect fit. Cue the opening of Lume, a design-driven luxury beauty atelier in the heart of the Mother City.

Tasked to local interior studio ARRCC, Lume’s design is the brainchild of Mark Rielly and Jon Case, who treated the space to high-fashion touches with luxurious rose gold and brass metallics, offset by a monochromatic palette of white marble, wood accents and black finishes. French-oak panelling and cleverly placed screens separate the spaces within Lume, seamlessly speaking to their unique functions. The result matches an understated indulgence with a tranquil atmosphere, mirroring the wide range of treatments on offer.

Guests can experience Oribe hair products in the Minotti furnished hair salon, move through to an intimate nail bar, or transition to the private treatment rooms for any number of therapies using Biologique Recherche, Terres D’Afrique or Académie Scientifique de Beauté products. Though vibrant in character, it would be hard to leave the space without a renewed sense of calm as you re-enter the neighbourhood’s energetic streets.

ADDRESS

40 Chiappini St

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The old Bosjesman’s Valley Farm – a lush Eden of vineyards, olive and fruit trees, and proteas just an hour’s drive along the R43 from Cape Town – has been owned by the Botha and Sofberg families since the 1830s, though the property’s original Cape Dutch manor house dates back to 1790.

TV3 Architects and Town Planners, and interior designer Liam Mooney have converted an outbuilding, an 18th-century barn, a 19th-century shed and a 1930s stables into a grand five-bedroom guesthouse swathed in sandy hues, chartreuse and copper.

The guesthouse makes the most of its bucolic setting – diversions range from swooping white curls of the chapel designed by Steyn Studio to rambling walks through gardens vibrant with plants and trees specifically mentioned in the Bible, such as myrtle, African Wormwood, white mulberries, and Eureka lemons.

The kitchen is a particular treat, its chef Pete Goffe-Wood turning out a rustic menu of grilled trout and pickled fennel, and lamb shank slow cooked in red wine and pancetta.

ADDRESS

On the R43 
Botha
Western Cape

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Adam Letch

By any yardstick, Nic Haarhoff and his partners are building a tasty little F+B empire for themselves in South Africa, delivering a well-designed mix of Mexican concept eateries in equally charming settings.

The latest outpost of their El Burro brand is in leafy Newlands, one of Cape Town’s toniest suburbs on the western slopes of Table Mountain. The walls between two adjoining retail shops were knocked down and the entire length of shop front windows replaced by folding concertina windows. The result is an expansive dining room that is lined with recessed arches, and dressed and designed by Haahoff and his partners with light fixtures, horizontal timber slats, and customised furniture, and painted in sectional swatches of sunny yellow, pink and grey.

As with the El Burro Taqueria and the flagship El Burro Greenpoint, the menu here is resolutely Mexican. Executive chefs Reinette Botha and Mariaan Labuschagne send out classic crowd-pleasers like a cerviche of finely diced angel fish marinated with lime juice, coriander, and ginger. The moles are made with 70 per cent organic chocolate and served with a herbed green rice and refried beans, while the marquee attraction – an eight-hour braised mutton flavoured with star anise, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon – is piled into house-made corn tortillas with slaw, guacamole, pickled red onions, and roasted chilli.

ADDRESS

Shop 1
37a Dean Street
Newlands

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Best known as the figure behind Potluck Club and The Test Kitchen, two of Cape Town’s most popular and critically acclaimed restaurants, British-born chef Luke Dales Roberts is now making waves with The Shortmarket Club. From its quaint side street location just off buzzy Bree Street, to the heritage building it sits inside, the restaurant presents a rounded dining experience in which every single facet has been carefully curated.

The menu is led by chef Wesley Randles who has worked closely with Luke since the opening of The Test Kitchen, and here confidently turns out innovative plates that offer updated riffs on classics from an open kitchen. Standouts include an asparagus dish modernised with a hazelnut and miso hollandaise, porcini puree and parmesan wafer, while steak becomes a talking point when served with an experimental café au lait sauce.

Working hand-in-hand with the menu are the interiors by Dale-Roberts’ wife, Sandalene. Here, an opulent old-world vibe comes courtesy of vast banquettes, an unrestrained used of velvet and leather, and a rich palette of blacks and deep aubergine. Sip on a preprandial cocktail in the bar while watching the action from the open kitchen, before heading through locally crafted stained glass sliding doors to the restaurant, where two skylights illuminate a wall of framed butterflies by artist Mark Rautenbach – certainly a conversation starter while waiting for your food.

ADDRESS

88 Shortmarket Street

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A jewel in the crown of the Western Cape’s bucolic wine country, the Robertson Small Hotel has brought a welcome injection of luxury to the area since it opened in 2011.

A recent overhaul adds extra polish to an idyll not particularly lacking in refinement - the owners have found talent from home and abroad to upgrade the property, with London-based designers Studio Ashby creating a new visual identity via bespoke items made by local designers.

Additionally, refurbishment of the hotel’s striking Victorian Manor House – a national monument, no less – as well as its suites and beautifully landscaped gardens by local artists has brought a lightness of touch to the hotel, its handsome wrought-iron verandahs remaining intact.

Meanwhile, a menu overseen by Rose Ashby of London’s Spring and head chef Tiaan van Greunen promises to make the restaurant a destination in itself, and a perfect base from which to explore the surrounding landscape’s various vineyards, orchards and microbreweries.

ADDRESS

58 Van Reenen Street

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The Constantia Valley ticks every criterion of a bucolic Cape Town tableau. Table Mountain looms over the landscape of vineyards and small farms, while a network of walking paths, woodlands of ancient oaks, and natural streams frame perfectly the valley’s tony mansions and 18th-century Cape Dutch homes. 

Taking full advantage of this vista is the newly opened Blanko. Located on the ground floor of the Alphen Boutique Hotel, the restaurant is headed by Amber-May Deetlef who delivers a light Italian menu speckled with imaginative crowd-pleasers like wild mushroom orzo, wild rocket gnocchi, and slabs of sirloin brushed with Shiraz butter and seasoned with black olive sea salt, though, apparently, the grilled local fish splashed with nothing more than olive oil and lemon is a best-seller.

Soda Creative’s Gregor Bremer sidesteps the potential monotony of an all-white interior by layering warm colours and textures. The handsome stain of the brown-bordered sash windows is mirrored in the broad-planked floors and exposed ceiling beams, while the Italian marble dining tables and a floating backlit bar are smartly paired with a collection of contemporary South African pieces.

And when the sun’s shining – which, in this part of the world, seems to be all year – the all-white outdoor terrace more than makes the mark.

ADDRESS

Alphen Drive
Constantia 7806

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A taste of the Big Apple in the heart of the Mother City. That’s the idea behind Mulberry & Prince, a modern luncheonette offering New American cuisine, that is causing quite a stir on the junctions of Cape Town’s Bree and Pepper Streets.

The space itself is equally intersectional, with local designers Atelier Interiors combining a rustic colour palette of dusty pink, charcoal, and terracotta,  and original brickwork and beams, with modernist touches. These include contemporary lighting and copper tables by designer Conrad Van der Westhuizen, who also had a hand in the metallic stained glass panels that back the unconventional bar. 

The bar, a hunk of locally-sourced natural slate, provides an obvious focal point to the space, but the true appeal is in the detail. Unable to locate perfectly matching slabs, the designers brought a series of roughly hewn pieces together with the Japanese art of kintsukuroi, in which the disjointed cracks are sealed with gold. 

Elsewhere, bespoke marble and timber tables designed by Pederson and Lennard, high leather bar stools by local brand Stokperd, and an eclectic mix of plush velvets and polished brass fulfil the designers’ French-retro vision. Here, under the abstract art of Cape Town-based artist, Kurt Pio, diners share small dishes like ricotta gnudi with Parmesan broth and mushrooms amongst a relaxed, communal vibe that New York would be proud of.

ADDRESS

12 Pepper Street

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Morgenster Wine & Olive Estate is hardly a new kid on the block. A rich olive and wine farm that dates to 1711, it sits at the gateway to the Western Cape wine-growing region and is a mere 35 minutes from Cape Town, nestled in the landscape of Somerset West.

But now, in addition to The Estate’s well-known winery, olive cellar and tasting room, is 95 at Morgenster, a new restaurant led by renowned chef Georgio Nava in which the essence of Italy permeates both the interiors and the menu. Led by Creative Director Aidan Hart and Senior Designer Annelise Botes of Inhouse Brand Architects, the light, bright space was designed with its idyllic surroundings in mind, giving full view to the lakes and clear mountain vistas that frame the restaurant. Green vines snake around an outer deck and bar area, adding a rustic vibe to the pale tiled herringbone flooring, pale wood bar stools and floor-to-ceiling patio glass walls. Elsewhere, monochromatic art from South African artists including Norman Catherine, Diane Victor and Andrew Verster is subtly illuminated, while the predominantly white space is offered a shot colour thanks to a series of dark blue upholstered booths. 

The menu is a comprehensive overview of authentic Milanese cuisine, and covers everything from cotolette di pollo to light seasonal salads, often dressed with Morgenster Estate’s own olive oil. It’s all complemented by an extensive wine list filled with Bordeaux-style offerings from what other than the Morgenster and Lourens River Valley label.

ADDRESS

Vergelegen Avenue, off Lourensford Road

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Cape Town-based musician and artist Zander Blom is once again showing at Cape Town's Stevenson Gallery. A new show, simply entitled 'New Paintings', will be his sixth solo show with the gallery. For this exhibition, his most divulging, he 'followed the medium instead of trying to make it follow me'.

Known for his expression of modernism through the eyes of a young person living in a politically and socially interesting Johannesburg at the inception of the 21st century, Blom’s new work is an extension of exactly that. 'I have believed in the idea of perpetual change as a vehicle for innovation and discovery in painting for a long time,' confesses Blom. 'Even though the overarching themes in my work have much remained the same over the last decade, my style and techniques have gone through many transformations.'

Blom characteristically creates modular forms in paint or printmaking that are then constructed and deconstructed whilst being documented at all stages. The documentation, in the form of photography, is mostly staged in his home. 'My current home studio is more or less the shape of a shoebox. One-third of the shoebox is the safe side, a painting-free zone with a couch, coffee table and two working tables. The other two-thirds is full of canvas and paint,' he says.

By his own declaration he decided early on in his career to be a 'productive, prolific and non-suicidal artist' following his own whims and impulses. His new expression collects this awareness and reveals some of his inner workings – including what he calls 'cabin fever' in his studio.

INFORMATION

'Zander Blom: New Paintings' is on view until 9 April. For more information, visit the Stevenson Gallery's website

Photography courtesy the artist and Stevenson Gallery

ADDRESS

Stevenson Gallery
Buchanan Building
160 Sir Lowry Road
Woodstock 7925
Cape Town

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South African born artist Jonathan Freemantle has spent time with mountains throughout his life. He was born and bred near Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain, worked near the Magaliesburg range outside of Johannesburg and meditated at a remote mountain range in Scotland surrounding the Rannoch Moor.

In his latest show at the MOMO Gallery in Cape Town, the artist channeled exactly this mountain impulse into the work – collectively entitled 'Der Heilige Berg' ('The Holy Mountain'). Freemantle found the Scottish mountains after being directed by Richard Demarco; and as it turns out, so did Joseph Beuys in the 70s, who declared it 'the last remaining wilderness in Northern Europe' (images of Beuys on Rannoch Moor are incorporated into the show).

The mountains, now on canvas, are painted from rocks, ochres and slates gathered from two of the ranges he’s spent time in. Freemantle would methodically grind these materials down into powder and then mix them with beeswax, turpentine, linseed oil and Damar resin. Thus, the paintings are the mountain.

'The rest of the work is a kind of conscious process, in the same way that walking up a mountain is a process – at the end is a momentary glimpse of the sublime', said Freemantle. 'All I am doing is a conscious walk with the occasional glimpse upwards to check my path'.

INFORMATION

’Der Heilige Berg’ is on view until 23 January 2016. For more information, visit Gallery MOMO’s website, or Freemantle’s website

ADDRESS

Gallery MOMO
170 Buitengracht Street
Cape Town City Centre
Cape Town, 8001

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Eleven years ago, on a visit to Mexico, Sascha Berolsky fell in love with Mexican cuisine. On his return to his native South Africa, he convinced three other partners that the time was ripe to open a Mexican restaurant. El Burro opened in 2010 and immediately found an appreciative local audience. Four outlets, including a Mexican food truck and retail shop, later, Berolsky and his partners have opened a taqueria in an early 20th-century Victorian-style pile in Tamboerskloof, an artsy Cape Town neighbourhood. An exposed face-brick wall painted an eye-catching shade of turquoise blue, creamy walls and colourful stools set the mood for the imaginative tacos dreamed up by the four partners and head chef Paul Van’T Hoff, an alumnus of the original El Burro. The house special is, of course, tacos – the corn tortillas are made daily by hand – but the menu has been broadened to appeal to local tastes and, so, includes ceviche served with mini tostados, chicharrons, quesadillas, paletas and churros. Mountain views of Lions Head and Signal Hill are the perfect accompaniment to taco layered with cumin and paprika scented roast cauliflower, lime cream, red cabbage slaw and a singeing peanut and arbol chilli salsa.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Shop 1
12-16 Kloof Nek Road
Tamboerskloof

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Things are, quite literally, looking up for Luke Dale-Roberts. The British-born chef at Cape Town’s restaurant du jour, the Test Kitchen, has just relocated his other culinary venture, the Pot Luck Club, next door: 18m above the Woodstock district atop the Silo in the Old Biscuit Mill. The lift opens onto a cobbled ‘street’ with views to Table Mountain and Lion’s Head and, straight ahead, an open-plan kitchen illuminated by studio lighting to give the impression of a stage. Capetonian Greg Scott was the project's architect, while designer Starry Eve Collett worked on the décor with local craftsmen, bringing in artwork by Peter Eastman and Otto Du Plessis. Dale-Roberts' young protégé Wesley Randles has been appointed head chef, overseeing a plate-sharing menu divided into five flavour profiles: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami.

ADDRESS

The Old Biscuit Mill
Albert Road
Woodstock
Cape Town
South Africa

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Man and machine are honoured at The House of Machines, a bike shop-cum-café harboured in the ground floor of an renovated former workhouse in Cape Town. A joint venture between designer Paul van der Spuy, bike enthusiast Drew Madacsi and Brad Armitage, co-founder of Brewers and Union bar, the House fuses old craft with modern thinking and heavy industry with luxury. Also housing a fashion outlet, stationer, craft-beer shop and workwear boutique, it aims to function as a cultural go-to destination in the South African city.

ADDRESS

84 Shortmarket Street
Cape Town
South Africa

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One of the pioneers in what was to become the metamorphosis of Cape Town's semi-industrial neighbourhood Woodstock, Superette initially braved its early years in a venue so audacious it almost seemed lost. But entrepreneurs Cameron Munro and Justin Rhodes had a vision, which grew to incorporate their wildly popular NeighbourGoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, along with their gallery Whatiftheworld, which was chosen to represent the country at Frieze New York 2013.

Moving on to bigger and shiner things, Superette has relocated to a space three times the size at the revamped Woodstock Exchange, and caters to lunching Google employees – along with just about every creative in the city. More than just a café, it is a showcase of the city's top talent, exhibiting everything from bespoke furniture by Xandre Kriel to hanging plant features and artworks from Whatiftheworld. Like New York's Meat Packing District or London's Dalston, Woodstock is a spark of urban gentrification, and Superette is deservedly enjoying the role it played in igniting it.

ADDRESS

66 Albert Road
Woodstock
Cape Town
South Africa

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Take a vacant space in Cape Town’s Old Biscuit Mill, award-winning executive chef Luke Dale-Roberts from La Colombe – regularly voted one of the best 15 restaurants in the world – a post-industrial setting crafted with the best designers and artisans in town, and you get The Test Kitchen. From the start, the empty space was thought of as a ‘blank canvas’ and pieced togther with retro furniture, steel-and-timber shelving by Truly Fantastic, art works by Peter Eastman, interior design by Casamento and creative lighting by I felt Like It. Anchored in the city's revitalised Woodstock neighbourhood, the restaurant works, as its name implies, as a ‘creative hub’: as a place to innovate and sample, explore and share different views on modern cuisine. Therefore, the 30-seater restaurant provides guests with the option of a casual, 'kitchen bar' or 'dish-by-dish' experience, straight from the open kitchen, or a more formal dining experience climaxing with a perfectly tuned eight-course tasting menu. A perfect blend of gastronomic and hearty cuisine in a timeless, arty setting.

ADDRESS

The Old Biscuit Mill
375 Albert Road
Woodstock
Cape Town

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Located in a quiet cul-de-sac within the platinum mile of Cape Town's fashionable Camps Bay, the most striking feature of Amara Villa is the dramatic views overlooking both Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. Just 100 metres from the beach, the privately owned property comprises a four-bedroom villa and a two-bedroom penthouse. Each separately accessible and available to rent individually, the villas feature locally crafted furniture, two pools, a jacuzzi, sauna and a private chef.

ADDRESS

6 Lincoln Road
Cape Town
South Africa 8005

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What started out as a humble paella stand in Cape Town's food market, The Old Biscuit Mill, has resulted in the beginnings of a gastronomic empire for Andrew Kai and Matthew Freemantle, whose Spanish catering business Gusto has flourished to include a series of high profile events, a pizza food truck and a string of successful supper club nights. Their latest venture sees the pair embarking on a more permanent set up with the launch of New York-style bagel bar, Max Bagels. Located on Bree Street, surrounded by other hip culinary joints, the pocketsize shop has been outfitted by local designer Jakob Basson who maximised the space with sleek wood counters, monochrome geometric floor tiles, bespoke pieces by Xandre Kriel and colourful plasticine artworks by Dale Lawrence and Ben Johnson. Expect a variety of fillings from classics such as salt beef, pickle and mustard to smoked trout, capers and pickled red onion for the more local palate. Coming soon is a breakfast bagel and for the sweet-toothed among us, cinnamon and raisin with salted butter. As for the bagels themselves, they are freshly made using the traditional method of boiling in malt syrup before baking.

ADDRESS

Shop 28
De Oude Schuur
120 Bree Street

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The perfect combination (according to some) of meat and wine is the order of the day at Cape Town's newest opening, Publik, for which oenophile David Cope joined forces with husband and wife butchers Andy and Nicole Fenner. Interiors are by local designer Shaun Bond, who has created an industrial space with lots of concrete, accented with warming woods and mismatched furniture. The result is a casual and unassuming bar that highlights the wine list - curated by Cope himself and changed on a daily basis - which focuses on local producers using natural methods. Meanwhile, the Fenners (who run the adjoining Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants) provide a small bar menu with local charcuterie, cheeses, scotch eggs and peanuts roasted in pig fat.

INFORMATION

Photography: Lar Leslie

ADDRESS

81 Church Street
Cape Town
South Africa

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With Design Indaba being a regular fixture on Cape Town's spring calendar, and the Cape Town Art Fair now in its second year, it is no surprise that an upscale international design fair has arrived on the scene. The debut of the Guild Design Fair (which runs until 9 March) sets out to emulate the best of the Basel, Miami and Milan offerings, while adding a fresh dose of 'African-ness' to the mix.

With only five commercial galleries participating - among them stalwarts such as Milan's Rossana Orlandi and New York's R & Company (formerly R 20th Century) - it's small, and less than crowded. A selection of non-profit organisations, such as the Danish government-funded Design Network Africa, and London's V&A Museum Maker Library Network, are also present, exploring 'the theme of "making" at an elevated, collectible level,' says the fair's co-founder Trevyn McGowan.  

For more than a decade, McGowan and her husband Julian have been well-known trailblazers of high-end African design. Their gallery, Southern Guild, was founded in 2008, and since then, they have focused on producing limited-edition pieces from more than 50 of the country's best designers and artists. 'There is a wealth of talent here. I'm approached often by makers,' says McGowan, who plans to focus in on, rather than expand, her network. Last October, a selection of the gallery's works launched Johannesburg's new Museum of African Design, and the Guild pop-up shop Artisan features smaller limited-edition jewellery, ceramics and accessories, selected by McGowan.

Zesty Meyers, co-founder of R & Company tacked on visits to makers' studios around the country in addition to exhibiting. 'There's a palpable energy here and a big drive for people to find their voice,' he says. 'It feels like South Africa is right on the brink of having its moment.' For participating US designers Jeff Zimmerman and David Wiseman, and Spanish born Nacho Carbonell, whose sculptural playground is a stand out feature of Guild, the opportunity to meet South African designers was new and invigorating. 'There is so much enthusiasm, and enviable studio space,' says Zimmerman.

McGowan plans for Guild to become an annual event. So far, feedback has been largely positive. 'I came not expecting to sell much,' says Orlandi 'but there are many international collectors, beyond the usual crowd. It has been a big surprise.'

ADDRESS

Guild Design Fair
The Lookout
Granger Bay
Cape Town

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With just 11 suites, Cape Town’s The Marly is proof that big things come in small packages.

Named for Chateau de Marly, the 17th century leisure residence of Louis XIV, the hotel lives up to its grand moniker. An abundance of appropriately decadent materials such as marble, velvet and leather sit alongside high maintenance white on white interiors, while trompe-l'œil columns impart a sense of grandeur and are a clear nod to the famously design-savvy Sun King.

If it all sounds a little chintzy, it’s not. Interiors are tempered with modern details, and thoughtfully placed mirrors, minimalistic furniture and contemporary art smooth out any risk of the hotel appearing ostentatious. A kaleidoscope of configurations, including sea and mountain-facing rooms, make the most of the hotel’s beachfront Camps Bay location, just minutes away from central Cape Town. Balconies offer sweeping views of the Twelve Apostles mountain range or the ocean, while private outdoor jacuzzis, showers and sun loungers enhance The Marly’s consistent theme of luxury and unabashed splendour. 

In the hotel’s four restaurants the design is noticeably more pared back. At Umi, Marly’s Japanese restaurant, delicate cherry blossom arrangements are paired with muted leather upholstery and neutral ornamental wood wall panelling for an elegant atmosphere, while the Italian Zenzero conjures visions of La Dolce Vita with al fresco dining, leather upholstered walls and lush plants. The king would approve.

ADDRESS

201 The Promenade
Victoria Road

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As Cape Town prepares to succeed Helsinki in 2014 as the World Design Capital, the international design community are already locking down sunny soirées in their calendars. For many, though, this won’t be their first pilgrimage to the city: Design Indaba has been pulling in devotees for the past 18 years.   

The expo is more an international TED-style talking shop than product showcase and this year’s conference was a graphic, design-centric affair. A double billing of heavyweight husband-and-wife teams - Seymour Chwast and Paula Scher as well as Steven Heller and Louise Fili - headlined a programme that included the likes of David Adjaye, John Maeda and Alex Atala.

Trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort curated a key exhibition at the fair, ‘Totemism: Memphis meets Africa’, exploring the aesthetic overlaps between the Italian pop-coloured counterblast to dour modernism and contemporary South African design. Edelkoort tapped 53 local designers to run with the idea, among them established names like Porky Hefer, Ardmore Ceramics, Dokter & Misses and Liam Mooney alongside up-and-comers such as Isabeau Joubert, Werner Venter and Warno Rüde.

The main hub at Design Indaba may have hosted the lion’s share of big names, but the rest of the city was equally beset by design fever – most noticeably in Woodstock, which pulses as the undisputed creative heart of Cape Town. The Woodstock Foundry, a mix of stores, galleries, restaurants and workshops, was the venue for some of the most interesting offsite events. 'Heavy Metal', for example, was curated by the excellent Southern Guild gallery and featured the work of many Edelkoort recruits.

Down the road lies the latest creative complex to open in the area. The Woodstock Exchange has been developed by the team behind the nearby Old Biscuit Mill and houses a similar mix of independent retailers and restaurants. Anchored by the Superette café, it's also home to Lise du Plessis’ bags-to-furniture Dark Horse; design duo Pedersen and Lennard; and Saks Corner’s mix of vintage and contemporary design.

The Old Biscuit Mill has gotten a shake-up with the arrival of The Pot Luck Club & Gallery, an eatery perched atop the new Cape Town Creative Academy. There is more development to the west of Woodstock in The Fringe, Cape Town’s self-styled ‘innovation district’. Fanning out from Buitenkant Street, the Fringe has been designated ground zero for next year’s World Design Capital events.

It can seem almost too perfect in this pocket of world-class flat whites, design workshops and artisan chocolatiers, but Woodstock is still a little rough around the edges and home to real factories and manufacturers making real things. That contrast makes it one of the world’s more fascinating and vibrant creative quarters.

Few understand the challanges and opportunities of contemporary South Africa better than its architects. Urban planning and improvements in infrastructure and transport links are priorities for a country still facing massive social and economic problems. Developments are happening, if not at the pace many would like.

In this month's issue of Wallpaper* we present some of the architects building bridges and rebuilding South Africa. While on wallpaper.com, we take a deeper look at these practices, dipping into their past portfolios and looking at their future work.

Photographer Mikhael Subotzky
Copyright Magnum Photos

South African Architects Directory

Paragon architects
Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology of South Africa (DACST)

The bar has been raised in institutional head office design in South Africa, with the recently completed design for the national department of Arts, Culture, Science and technology by Paragon Architects.

The plan arrangement consist of three long rectangular interlinked blocks, arranged like a lazy ‘Z’ across the floor of the site. Gently folded strips of concrete floor plates define the silhouette and the visible edges of the building’s form. Vast cut-outs in the planted rooftop landscape pour light deep into the courtyards defined by the blocks of offices. Cavernous performance spaces are shaped at key intersection points in the building’s layout.

The entire site is intensively landscaped and entry to the building is through planted areas, across sheets of water, and through forests of columns placed at rakish angles, into the belly of the building. The material palette is kept simple and almost spartan, and form becomes the dominant element of expression.

Paragon Architects
T-Systems head office, Centurion, Pretoria/Tshwane
Scheduled for construction in the second half of 2011

Information Technology company T-Systems currently operates from a head office building designed in 2004 by Paragon Architects, and is now looking to accommodate its growing needs in another Paragon-designed environment. The design continues the sharp-edged, folded-plate silhouette of the existing head office, but internally has a much more complex assembly of sculptural forms and spaces.

Studio Mas Architects
The Highveld Pavilion

This private guest cottage is situated in a lush smallholding along the Vaal River in Vanderbjlpark, south of Johannesburg. The buildings function is as garden pavilions, with open entertainment areas that also provide weekend accommodation. The building maximises the scenic surrounding by providing complete visual connection between the interior spaces and the surrounding landscape.

The building consists of two parallel blocks set within the densely treed landscape. They are connected by a garden wall along their eastern façades, creating an intimate courtyard space. The illusion of being completely outside while inside is enhanced by the use of frameless glazing on all sides as well as seamless external floor finishes. Bedroom suites feature open plan bathrooms as well as an intimate television lounge. Laser cut artworks by Willem Boschoff slide across the façade, providing an interesting and beautiful solution for adjustable privacy.

Studio Mas Architects
The Hamilton Hotel

The brief was for a boutique hotel with the comforts of home, but where all the requirements of the most demanding businessman are addressed; space efficient design that maximised use of a relatively small site.

The hotel, commissioned by private developers, is located in the leafy suburb of Craighall Park. It is designed to look like a residential building but still creates a bold presence demanding attention and interaction.

The building is located on a small corner stand and consists of a linear plan with two wings. The ground floor forms the public space of the hotel with the lobby between the dining room on one side and boardrooms on the other. The public space spills over into two private courtyards, which are used for functions as well as recreational space. The floors above consist of several private suites with en-suite bathrooms, a feature of which are the bay windows which puncture the façade and allow the users an opportunity to step out of the building and into the public domain, albeit only on a visual level.

The materials explored in this design once again relate to minimising building costs; therefore steel roof sheeting was used and timber trusses became a design feature. The design uses tyrolean wall finishes, allowing for the growth of creepers on part of the walls, creating a changing façade overtime.

MMA Architects
Ellis Park Precinct Upgrade 2007

The Ellis Park Urban Development Framework is part of the Inner City Revitalization of the City of Johannesburg. The location of two stadiums in the middle of the city is a unique urban condition that has to be taken advantage of. In regards to the World Cup 2010, with Ellis Park hosting a number of World Cup games, the urban framework prepared the city for this huge event of global attention. At the same time the proposed structures will cater for a large number of citizens after the event. The inner city of Johannesburg has undergone radical change after the apartheid area officially ended. Today, ten years later, planners and city government aim for integration and bringing back urban life into the streets that should be enjoyed by a large number of citizens.

MMA Architects
South African Embassy, Berlin, 2003

The re-unification of Germany and the liberation of South Africa in the nineties resulted in the need for a new South African Embassy in Berlin. The chancery is located between the recently completed Indian embassy and the yet to be built embassy of Turkey. The urban design framework for Berlin is based on the recreation of its neo-classical past and the ‘villa type’ developments, with 10m between buildings prescribed in this street in order to maintain the park-like surroundings.

The location of the site determined the conceptual departure of the scheme. The building opens out to both sides, the north opening being on axis with a memorial to Otto Wagner. The south opening is off axis and focuses onto a sculpture by South African artist Speelman Mahlangu as a counterpoint. The confluence of these two (German and South African) axis is at the main central gathering and exhibition space.

The concept of confluence is used to further elaborate the design, primarily through integration of the Berlin ‘hof’ and African ‘khotla’ - German technology and African attitudes to adornment; Berlin town planning and African massing and proportions. A sun-drenched South African natural sandstone is used externally, offset by a granite base and aluminum ‘bangles’. These are meant to unify the diverse artistic and cultural references contained within the building, which are reflective of all South Africa’s people. The design mediates between images of South Africa’s turbulent political past and tourist present and provides an image appropriate to an efficient modern South African administration in the global arena.

Mashabane Rose Associates
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls

A new 450 student boarding high school designed with an African spirit to encourage and nurture the learners from all parts of South Africa. The library and quadrangle are at the centre of the school with the learning and living environments extending in two arms into the landscape setting.

Mashabane Rose Associates
University of Johannesburg

A new 400 seat concrete shell Theatre and Art Gallery designed around a green gathering space/square.

Dieter Brandt

Namibian-born Dieter Brandt is collaborating with MMA Architects on this library design for a Science University in Central Africa.

26'10 South Architects
River House, Denysville, Free State

This house has been designed for week-end use and eventually early retirement for a family currently living in Johannesburg. The site is located on the Free State side of the Vaal River and has been extensively quarried for gravel prior to the flood line being established in the 1970's. This has resulted in much of the site being rendered unbuildable. The clients' desire for a long, north facing, single storey structure resulted in the western edge of the house projecting over the flood line. The natural depression in the ground at this point was slightly lowered to serve as a carport.

The folded plane of the roof is functionally derived and aesthetically fine-tuned to create a modulated form that mirrors the horizon on the north but rises up to announce the house to visitors approaching from the south. Red, earth-coloured, brick walls without visible lintels and subtle window sills form a monolithic base capped by the thin metal plane of the roof.

The existing trees, flood line and contours provided the parameters for the positioning of the house and informed proposals for landscaping including the siting of a concealed access track to the boat launch which is located between two tall existing trees.

26'10 South Architects and Lindsay Bremner
Sans Souci Cinema Project, Soweto, Johannesburg

In the absence of a budget and local capacity to re-build the famous Sans Souci Cinema in Soweto, Johannesburg, the content, rather than the container, was realised. The cinema building was destroyed in a fire in 1994 and subsequently pillaged for building materials resulting in an evocative ruin used as an informal public space by the local youth. 26'10 South Architects' brief from the Kliptown Our Town Trust was to re-imagine the Sans Souci as a cultural public space. Through a series of workshops and events, the remains of the cinema were animated as a space of cultural happening and meaning over a period of several years. A film festival, dance outreach project and several performances were held during this time. These events employed the ruin as urban armature and were curated together with the community.

Through their practice as architects in a need-based context in which resources are scarce, 26'10 had to discover, for themselves, the value in the directness and immediacy of informality. By harnessing informal processes, they are finding new ways in which to make positive and interactive public spaces. Rather than abandoning their clients in the light of limited budgets, they have pooled human resources through combined networks in order to realise their mandate of creating a public space for cultural programme.

Nestled in the heart of the platinum mile of Cape Town's Camps Bay are the ultra-exclusive Ebb Tide apartments: luxurious living that is raising the bar in one of the most elegant areas of South Africa.

Conceived by Greg Wright architects, the apartments exhibit contemporary design that challenges the stagnant approach that had taken root in the area's opulent genericism.

The lower floor consists of two simplex apartments, each fitted with two bedrooms whilst the upper floors boast both a three, and a four bedroom duplex property. The living areas of the larger apartments are raised to the upper levels, making the views of the Atlantic Ocean an inherent feature - whilst each unit has an infinity pool and spacious terrace area. All apartments are available to rent.

ADDRESS

143 Victoria Road
Camps Bay
Cape Town
South Africa

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