What to do when your home becomes too small for your family? Should you just upgrade it? Sell it and get another, bigger one? Remodel it? Tear it down and build a bigger one? Take a look what this South African requested and how architects managed to turn his old home into the contemporary home of dreams.
The story begins with a man who owned a home, located in Higgovile, a small wealthy community in City Bowl of Cape Town in South Africa. As time went by, family grew and he needed a bigger space for his teenage kids and the rest of the family. “After informal discussions with Stefan Antoni, the client appointed SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects to complete the design of a new home to replace the existing house the family had grown out of.” – says project partner, Philip Olmesdahl. Even though people rarely have emotional courage to demolish their existing homes, this time client followed the given advice and decided to let Stefan and Philip as well as rest of SAOTA crew to do their magic. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just take a look at their other work, Nettleton 198 – a house which is probably one of the most beautiful houses in the world, this small apartment, …more to come…)
“The new home was to respond to the site and garden closely, to allow enough space for the family’s diverse requirements – whilst create separate private spaces within the house, and respond to the fierce winds which seasonally hurtle down Table Mountain yet provide a relaxed, homely character in the spirit of Higgovale.” – says project partner, Philip Olmesdahl. And they made it. They created incredible contemporary home named Glen 2961. Spreading over 3 open and well connected floors, this charming home offers stunning living space, warm and welcoming atmosphere, incredible views and many other things that can’t be described with words. Just like this modern mansion also designed by SAOTA.
Even though some of you might say facade and interiors look somehow too raw and rough, I think this is exactly what makes this contemporary home so attractive and positive. Naked concrete, wooden surfaces, stone furniture and glass walls are combined so well that interior design screams South Africa. And I don’t believe someone could describe Africa with architecture better than SAOTA did with Glen 2961.
“In terms of the clients objectives to have a casual feel to the interiors, SAOTA relied on robust uncluttered finishes of off-shutter concrete for soffits and various walls, painted bagged brickwork, specialized polished concrete topping and oak cabinetry and ceilings. This mix – whilst not unique – complements family living well. To amplify the sense of openness of the rooms and the gardens, the living rooms have large openings of sliding aluminium doors – this openness is further enhanced by glass handrails to successfully blur the boundaries of interior and exterior.”
Perfect. Now let me know what do you think about this contemporary home? Is it worth destroying your older home? Do you like those contemporary interiors? Let me know in the comment section below.
All photos © Adam Letch
