Innholdsfortegnelse for Build i House and Leisure

‘Build’ represents the way that all things are constructed – places, products, structures, communities and even collaborations. Between envisioning something and bringing it to life there is building it. In this issue we explore this concept through architecture and art, through the lens of community, connection and collaboration. We also hero the people who inhabit their spaces authentically and those who are committed to building a better place to live. ‘Build’ reimagines the way that we can shape the future, both individually and as a collective. BALANCING ACT I BY RODAN KANE HART AVAILABLE FROM THEFOURTH Steel and automotive paint – 165 x 72 x 47cm – POR ‘Balancing Act I, or the act of balancing, is a rather apt dramatisation of our recent lived reality. One in opposition to…

publisher and co-founder Pieter Bruwer With entrepreneurship in his veins and a flair for business, Pieter has orchestrated the renaissance of House and Leisure, along with co-founding LOOKBOOK Studio in 2020. Au fait with building things from the ground up, Pieter is challenging traditional business models (a work in progress and something that’s given him a few more grey hairs). With roots in educational publishing, he has a love for creative content and beautiful design, which makes him the perfect leader for our dynamic team. In his downtime you’ll find Pieter travelling the globe, walking in the mountains or enjoying a very good glass of wine. @pieter.bruwer studio manager Lisiwe Qukwana Where would we be without our studio operator – keeping our quirky yellow ducks in a row in HR,…

Beginning, significantly, in 1994 with South Africa’s first democratic general elections, Decorex Africa has since evolved to become the continent’s largest decor, design and lifestyle exhibition – featuring innovations in architecture, homeware and lifestyle products for both the residential and commercial sectors. As an anchor in the industry for almost three decades, the past two years encouraged some much needed change, ultimately resulting in a dynamic reimagination of this heritage brand. Poised to offer a fresh vision and purpose for the year ahead, Decorex Africa is placing the focus on Africa, her potential and the power of design to create meaningful change. With two curated shows in Cape Town and Joburg, the latter debuting at the Sandton Convention Centre, Decorex Africa will additionally host summits in both cities, offering platforms…

It’s hard to recall a time before Luke Dale-Roberts was Luke Dale-Roberts, if you know what I mean. Like Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel or The Labia Theatre that have always just been there, it’s like there wasn’t a time before Luke was a big name in South Africa. It was while reading The Inside Job (the book that his partner Sandalene Dale-Roberts curated to document all the people behind his successful restaurants – from scullers to waiters) that I was reminded of where I actually first heard his name. Rewind a decade or so back and – in the same location that he would go on to open the award-winning The Test Kitchen, and later The Pot Luck Club – Luke used to sell breakfast rostis with bacon from…

A landmark in Cape Town’s city bowl, the Mutual Heights building on the corner of Darling and Parliament Street is a classic exemplar of African-inspired art deco architecture. Constructed between 1936 and 1940, the build was a collaboration between Louw & Louw Architects and FM Glennis, and, along with the General Post Office located opposite, it was for many years the tallest building in South Africa. But, in 2003, Old Mutual initiated a residential conversion of the building – the first in a series of projects that helped revitalise the city centre. Two years later the remaining heritage sections were sold – including the banking hall, directors’ suite and the assembly room. It’s in this historic and iconic building that two siblings bought an expansive apartment to renovate, in-line with…

‘The light that we have in Africa is very different from the light in Europe, for example,’ says Johannesburg-based architect, Kate Otten. ‘There’s an intensity about it that also brings out the intensity of the colours.’ These kinds of observations about the quality of light and colour inform her idea of home – or in architectural parlance, ‘context’ – and what it means for a home to belong in its particular setting. It’s something that governed every aspect of the design of her family home in Joburg’s Parktown North – which she shares with her partner, Paris Pitsillides, and their daughter, Paloma. The leafy green district is one of the older residential areas of the northern suburbs, which is home to an old-and-new mix of rambling houses and modern apartments,…

‘Everything I owned used to fit into two suitcases,’ laughs John Edwards, a self-confessed professional nomad who now calls this colourful, two-storey cottage in the Bo-Kaap home. His unlikely decision to settle after years abroad was the result of a job offer to work within the public sector and the opportunity to focus on his passion for ‘spatial justice’ and the fair redistribution of resources and opportunities for people displaced by political volatility. Although formally trained as an architect, John quit his job in 2013 and moved to England to study a Masters of Philosophy in Development Studies at Oxford University: a once-in-a-lifetime experience that, he maintains, changed his life. ‘I went from working on a penthouse in Sea Point to a university classroom talking about what mattered to me…

In thirty years’ time, more than two thirds of the world’s population is expected to reside in cities. The biggest increases being in Asia and Africa, meaning that these urban spaces play an increasingly important role in shaping the wellbeing of our society. Understanding how the built environment nurtures specific social and economic outcomes is the first step to making these spaces more habitable and equitable. Suzanne Hall, a South African architect and researcher based at the London School of Economics, studies a crucial element of a functional urban area: high streets. Her work shows that these movement corridors sustain diverse economic and social livelihoods because they have a variety of built forms that emerge from a rich and layered history of design, use and adaptation. Jane Jacobs, who coined…

We’re living in a world where virtual real estate has already outpriced many equivalent brick and mortar properties. A world where architects have a future in designing SimCity-like urban spaces rather than physical ones. A world where digital twins can predict future outcomes in the construction and engineering sector and avatars sport the season’s latest digital fashion from Balenciaga. In this new online universe, Snoop Dogg has his own virtual world – the Snoopverse, of course But, we’re still living in this world so to speak, not that one. But wait… what? Enter: the Metaverse, an umbrella term for a shared 3D virtual space (or spaces). There, instead of reading your House and Leisure as a paper iteration… even a digital iteration, you’ll slip on your VR glasses and walk…

As Africa’s largest contemporary art fair, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, has always aimed to unite people through art. After an (in-person) hiatus brought on by Covid-19 and lockdowns, the 2022 edition of the fair is largely focused on the notion of collaboration in many spheres – the intention is to open up a dialogue and a shared support structure, with an exchange of ideas, research, artists, strategies and resources. The fair seeks to bring people together to connect, converse and contemplate at the forefront of contemporary art. Having been the title sponsor of the art fair since 2018, Investec is not only committed to showcasing African artists’ works, but to supporting, mentoring and building a community through this showcase too. Artists and the art industry, like so many others,…

While this chapter has been created to inspire your home aesthetic, we aim to help you express your identity across the board – so enjoy the addition of some sartorial inspiration too. This shopping guide in each issue of House and Leisure is our exclusive LOOKBOOK for you! Compiled by our editors, it’s a curated collection of current design and decor trends and contemporary products.…

Textural tip Allow the textures to do the talking by stripping down your work zone and keeping colour pops to a minimum, letting materiality do all the work.…

@Home home.co.za 8° South eightdegreessouth.com Acre Studio acrestudio.co.za Afrimodern afrimodern.co.za Alex Coetzee @alex_f_coetzee Always Welcome alwayswelcome.store Ashanti Design ashantidesign.com Bella Bathrooms bellabathrooms.co.za Berman Contemporary bermancontemporary.com BestWood bestwood.co.za Block and Chisel blockandchisel.co.za Bofred bofred.co.za Broste Copenhagen brostecopenhagen.com Builders Warehouse builders.co.za Carin Dorrington carindorrington Cécile & Boyd cecileandboyds.com Cemcrete cemcrete.co.za Central @central_ct Clementina Ceramics clementina.co.za Country Road woolworths.co.za Créma Design cremadesign.co.za Curación Collective curacion-collection.co.za De Nagmaal denagmaal.com Design Afrika designafrika.co.za Design Store designstore.co.za Dokter & Misses dokterandmisses.com Douglas Jones douglasjones.co.za Duram Paint duram.co.za Duravit duravit.com Ebony Curated ebonycurated.com Ferm Living fermliving.com Flush flushbathrooms.co.za Folha folhashop.com H&M hm.com HAY hay.dk Herringbone herringbone.co.za Homesense homesense.com Houtlander houtlander.co.za Indigenus indigenus.co.za Jade Paton Ceramics jadepaton.com James Mudge jamesmudge.com Joe Paine joepaine.com K.Light klight.co.za Khwebula Arts @khwebula Kino kino.co.za La Grange Interiors lagrangeinteriors.co.za Le Creuset lecreuset.co.za Lemon…

Upper Wheelan House appears, from the outside, to be a very modest building – on purpose. It was designed to be respectful to its streetscape context. Only the red oxide-painted gates give away any hint of the architectural approach within. The masonry facade, with vertically-proportioned and symmetrical openings under a hipped roof, are all polite gestures to the context. Inside, the architects have managed to create a sense of generosity within a very tight footprint. The old cottage has been extended upwards to create a first floor, and half of that space is reserved for a living area beneath double volume. Fully glazed to the south and with bay windows to the east, this space extends into a small backyard garden. After moving through the front door from the traditional…

Architect: KLG Architects AWA 2021 winner This cottage, in the peri-urban makeshift sprawl that is Betty’s Bay, is an exercise in smallness that tests size requirements of the holiday house typology. The result is cause for the idioms ‘small is beautiful’ and ‘less is more’. In this inspired setting, with its magnificent mountainous backdrop, the new building sits lightly and somewhat afloat on a rock landscape. The cutaway porch, the projecting bay windows and the sensitive low flush-aligned roof all contribute to an architecture of humble restraint in service of its dramatic backdrop. The simplicity of the L-shaped footprint shows a deft hand at planning that can align and overlay entry, connection between sea and mountain and the pragmatics of use and circulation into an accomplished and efficient layout. The…

Architect: Noero Architects AWA 2021 winner This brief called for an extension to an existing complex of church buildings, to accommodate an expanding congregation in Somerset West. The immediate context of the site is suburban in form and programme. The approach, off of Old Stellenbosch Road, meanders up a narrow street that is shared with a medium-sized shopping centre, its parking lot and a Tudor-styled gated-estate. The incline, together with the facade of the centre, effectively diminishes the scale of the new church building, which in its cylindrical form and industrial detail, recalls the language of the concrete reservoirs that it joins on the slopes of the Helderberg. The complex is accessed through a gently sloping ramp, screened in white breeze block, modulating light whilst softening the banality of its…

Architect: Team Architects AWA 2021 winner At this somewhat awkward knuckle between the Bo-Kaap and Tamboerskloof, this development – which is much more than an alteration or an addition – appropriately respects that which is worthy and integrates a new urban compact accommodation. The original stone and cast iron boundary wall gives over to the new brick wall that also partly forms the gables of the two new shed-like structures, which mimic the reworked gable of the original Victorian, and gently march up the slope of the street boundary. Every inch of this wall is carefully proportioned to eventually reach the full height of the studios at the northwestern corner, next to the site of a three-storey block of flats. The actual gables are formed with corrugated iron sheeting, cascading…

Architect: Mark Thomas Architects AWA 2021 commendation This garden studio is the admirable product of an owner who is both the architect and the builder, one who found joy in making a jewel of a building, just in time for lockdown. Many previous city-commuters are choosing to work from home. This project is an example of responding to this need, in a wonderful and sensitive manner. Its typology becomes a thought-provoking example of how to densify a suburban plot, through good design principles, to create an appropriate addition to the site. This building conveys a delightfully experimental approach towards making and detailing. Simple in form, the layers of complexity are in the detail. The building is a simple lean-to structure that blurs the lines between inside and outside. A sustainable…

Masters at showcasing local design, Clout/SA is the brainchild of the same team that has powered the Nando’s Design Programme since 2015, with successful long-running projects including the Hot Young Designer competition and Portal to Africa, a R60-million marketplace that’s become one of SA’s largest exporters of design. Facilitating everything from curated exhibitions to supply chain management, their purpose first impact business exists to turn South African design into a globally recognised category. House and Leisure shares this passion for the development of the local design industry, especially when it comes to emerging talent. Coupled with an extreme appreciation for the work of Tracy Lee Lynch, creative director of the Nando’s Design Programme and director of Clout/SA, as well as one of House and Leisure’s editors-at-large, coming together to showcase…

The Pencil club teeters on the top two floors of Umhlanga Arch, offering visitors to the exclusive venue a variety of restaurants, four bars, numerous meeting rooms, a library, a cigar room and a custom-designed event space. Distinctly different textures, colours and detail come together in the most striking way, complemented by custom furniture and fittings. For Port Elizabeth-born Victoria Wood, managing director at Cape Town-based firm Mobius, taking on the assignment to bring The Pencil to life was one she knew would be a career highlight. ‘Our “Concept Bible” was put to good use in the first few experimental months,’ explains Victoria. ‘That, paired with a playful client – co-founders Renzo Scribante and Marc Rosenberg – meant that we really had a fluid working relationship, which helped us align…

There’s a famous pride of peacocks and peahens that roam the street below. Residents and partners, Amit Nanoo and Russell Fisher, along with their neighbours, know to give space and time to this flock when they’re crossing in front of their cars. They visit from the nearby Brenthurst Estate — their permanent home — and occasionally, if you’re lucky, you may catch them fanning themselves out on the sidewalk. With the constant hum of the M1 highway only a street away, and the concrete towers of the CBD the same distance in the other direction, their display captures you for a magical moment between the frenetic rush of life. It’s one of those idiosyncratic ‘Joburg things’ that makes you fall in love with the city’s strange beauty, over and over…

Making a former church one’s home and furniture-design studio is a rather unorthodox move. But then Cape Town designer Haldane Martin and his wife Danielle have never really followed the path of the ordinary. Their bedroom and kitchenette, tucked away under the church’s wooden stage, demonstrate their non-conventional inclinations. So too does the way in which they’ve transformed the actual church into a showroom. Although the colour that the Martins painted the stage walls of Woodstock’s old All Saints Church was selected for its vintage hue rather than for its name, Dulux’s ‘Tavern Green’ is an apt appellation when one considers the Public Entertainment Licence framed in the entrance of this 1912 heritage building. It was awarded to the church rectory by the City of Cape Town in 1967, permitting…

‘This way home’ read the note, architect-owner Yvette van Zyl left on the kitchen counter for her husband, pointing to a scale model of their dream home. Dëon spent several days contemplating the little model, which Yvette built on the sly, ultimately feeling compelled by the design to invest in the building of their own home rather than buying a house on the plummeting pandemic-driven property market. The couple never planned to live in Mossel Bay but a work opportunity meant Dëon, a chemical engineer who now operates in the fishing industry, had to relocate to the small town, which is known for many things including being the landing place of Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias and its great archaeological significance. Initially this was quite the adjustment, but they soon succumbed…

It’s a windy day when I visit the The Jardim Farm, located about two kilometres from Noordhoek beach. From my car, clutching my sun hat, I walk past a striking stained glass window, the only opening to the south eastern side of a renovated barn. This wall faces the Gomes family home, while the other sides of the barn open to south peninsula views, nature’s elements and a large firepit. Rotem Shachar, one half of MR Design Studio’s creative duo, is responsible for the barn renovation, and explains how the building is an album of family memories executed not in images but in materiality. The interior wood cladding represents Justin Gomes’ upbringing in Cape Town; a lattice-like brick wall evokes images of Angela Gomes’ childhood in Benoni; the round window,…

While most of our social media scrolls these days bring up a range of polished Instagram images, offbeat TikTok videos and heated debates on Twitter, the digital community is not only about content and commerce. For the women (or, as they iterate the word – womxn) behind Khwela Womxn, digital and tech spaces have opened up the possibility for connection, community and social change for South Africa’s women. With a clear target of 100 000-women strong network, the team has worked to leverage easy-to-use, affordable online spaces and the help of expert volunteers to create programmes that support the empowerment of women. And it’s a notion well-founded. While much research into online communities has leaned towards its current consumer and content dynamics, other scholars have argued that a ‘digital commons’,…

I’ve always been attuned to the affect of colour on my mood. My keen interest in colour therapy as a teenager suggests as much. But then again, what wasn’t I curious about at that age? Unlike the teenage stereotype, I had a penchant for spiritual discovery, religious research and an acute interest in alternative healing; I spent a lot of my time in my bedroom – which was mostly white, black and nude. At the beginning of my studies I dared not associate myself with what I considered to be the frivolity of colour, but the more that I learnt about different faiths, the more I discovered each one’s relationship with colour; I found myself starting to intentionally introduce colour into my world. As a conscious teen (today’s equivalent of…

Storage tip Use aesthetically pleasing and functional items as a way to decorate and simultaneously tidy your space – simple shapes and exposed metal make for a polished look.…

Style tip Keep things modern by teaming natural and organic materials with standout design pieces that are both functional and easy on the eye.…

It’s quite unbelievable that it was only just over a year ago that LOOKBOOK Studio, our new start-up – a creative content studio – acquired the iconic House and Leisure brand. From the get-go, the objective was to reinvent and redesign the almost 30-year-old publication – a most ambitious task. Our first issue, Vol. 1 : Escape, landed on the shelves in May 2021. As we now release Vol. 4 : Build, which is aptly named and timed, I am extremely pleased to be able to reflect on the publication’s speedy evolution and growth. The inclusion of a ‘Lookbook’ for the Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA) is another milestone for us. Architecture is one of our key content pillars and this collaboration demonstrates our support for the architectural fraternity and…

Architect: KLG Architects AWA 2021 winner This project was an extension to an existing building and falls within an existing campus architectural identity. Its success is in how seamlessly the new construction integrates with the existing one on multiple levels, layers, and scales. Circulation to and through the new amenity is a fluid experience. A courtyard is carved out as an articulated void space of composed proportion that seamlessly merges old with new. The project is heightened through its layering of space that intensifies through the narrative experience of the building. The courtyard enhances and relates to the atrium. The ground floor lowers to define the choir practice room foyer, which acts as an informal performance space with double volume height and an evocative saw tooth roof with northeast clerestory…

Architect: Malan Vorster AWA 2021 winner The brief for the team from Malan Vorster was to transform a private residential gym in Constantia into a space that would make exercise feel like a pleasurable experience for the client. And the team nailed the brief. The gym is set within a sophisticated terrain of other folly-type structures in a lush garden landscape, under the dappled light of mature oak trees. It is perched atop a heavy stone-clad and stippled pigmented plaster base wall that stretches into the landscape and helps define the garden’s many terraces that tumble down the mountainside. This base equally delineates the car park forecourt realm from the upper tranquility of the garden. Within this base is a carefully crafted self-contained guest suite. The gym can be accessed…

Architect: Pinard Architecture AWA 2021 winner It took three attempts to find this house… On the first two occasions it went unnoticed. And this, to a large extent, is where the beauty and the value of this seaside holiday house lies, in its absolute and carefully crafted humility. Where its neighbours push forward and higher to announce their presence and their occupation of the magnificent bay, the Ferreira home pulls itself back and down into the milkwood forest without sacrificing its connection to the ocean. The intention to connect the ocean in the east and the milkwood thicket in the west is achieved in absolutely every space inside the house. In addition, the extensive accommodation on its very restrictive site is filled with natural light, the breeze from the ocean…

How time flies! Can you believe you’re already holding Volume 4 of our relaunched House and Leisure in your hands? I can’t! To me, the last year feels like a blur – it’s just swooshed by, like a motorbike speeding past you on the sidewalk. But right now is also the perfect time to halt, zone out (or in) and reflect on this milestone and how far we’ve come; a moment to acknowledge what we’ve built ... cue our theme for this issue ;) This is why I’d like to take a second to celebrate the ‘builders’ of our brand who have made it all possible: the people we’ve met along the way, our network of collaborators, and you (waving!), our readers. But also our team – the ones who…

TIME magazine lauded him as the ‘photographer [who] changed the visual narrative of contemporary Africa’, a title of huge proportions and one that is undeniably warranted. With a belief that being African is his super power, Trevor has set the record straight that Africa is not a country. Through documenting the continent as it really is – and not how global media often portrays it: suffering, impoverished, desolate – Trevor shows the world the beauty and diversity of the 54 countries that make up Africa. His driving force? ‘I wanted to capture African images that did not exist on Google,’ he told TIME. ‘My work is about showing what Africa looks like now, to cultivate a better understanding of what Africa is.’ It’s a decade since he won the ELLE…

Geometry, geography and genealogy all connect at the intersection of Dr Esther Mahlangu’s legacy, which stretches from museums in New York and Paris to a design studio in Stockholm and back home to a Cape-Dutch inspired cottage in Johannesburg. That meeting point isn’t static though. It could never be. It’s a story of continuity, communication and community. In the master bedroom of that well-appointed cottage, which belongs to Trevor Stuurman, a visual artist and storyteller, are multiple Ndebele motifs including a mural and a bust painted by Mam’ Esther. Since being commissioned to shoot and stay with her for a film project, their relationship has grown as they work on other pursuits together, as she has become his gogo, muse and mentor and he, her umzukulu, documentarian and protege. They…

A drink that packs a punch ‘Not your typical punch, Sangria derives its name from the Spanish word for blood, ‘sangre’,’ explains CyberCellar’s David Cope. ‘This is a superb drink for warm afternoons and evenings when you want something fruity, but light on alcohol. There are many variations but the authentic way is simple and easy, with no hard tack required. Method: Mix two Tbsp sugar into 3 Tbsp lukewarm water until dissolved and add to a large pitcher. Peel 2 oranges and 1 lemon and add the peels to the pitcher. Juice the fruit and add it to the pitcher. Core and chop 1 green apple and add to the pitcher. Add a bottle of red wine (something tasty but not too expensive) and then pop in a cinnamon…

1 / Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech (Prestel) His was a resonant and unrepentant creativity that created pathways for greater equality in art and design. Virgil Abloh is one of those rare humans that really did change the world. With near supernatural optimism and grace, he uplifted everyone in his orbit, handed us the cheat codes. Figures of Speech explores his genre-bending practice in art, fashion, design and architecture, unearthing his archive and process. What a life to rejoice. 2 / Dwell (Dwell Media) Aptly named, Dwell magazine lingers in the architectures that house quotidian life’s ways and rituals. From inspiring features about an auto repair shop in Berlin turned into a painter’s family home to a modernist, glass-fronted studio for South African fashion designer Lezanne Viviers in Johannesburg, the…

The run-down student digs that, at first sight, Pam Hoffman dismissed as uninhabitable, turned out to be the renovation project her architect husband, Ant Stricker, had long dreamed of. ‘I wanted space to experiment without being precious. The fact that the house was dilapidated made it even more appealing’, Ant laughs. Equally attractive was the affordable price tag, which, given its proximity to the city and both Ant and Pam’s respective offices, made the typical 1930s tiled-roof cottage in Mowbray a budget-friendly and convenient no-brainer purchase for the young couple. ‘We’d been looking for over two years and found nothing’, says Pam. ‘But the minute Ant walked in, he was adamant: we had to put in an offer.’ As a partner at Anderson Perry Partnership Architects, Ant immediately recognised the…

Zwelisha Giampietri and Steve Jones’ Manor Gardens home is so close to the treetops that the couple can watch birds and monkeys swooping through the neighbourhood from their sofa. ‘The access to nature is wonderful. We can observe each creative construction decision the weavers make as they build their nests – from ours,’ says Zweli. Their home – not of twigs, but of concrete, Corobrik, brise-soleil and expert shuttering – was built with the same fastidious attention to problem-solving and a tough environment the nesting birds apply. Architect Paul Mikula, who designed ‘House Meyer’ (named after the first owner) with his partner Rob Johnson in 1981, basically constructed a viewing platform – floating above the tropical jungle that characterises Durban and immersing its dwellers into the city’s green belt –…

THE COLONY IS A KIND OF CREATURE IX BY CHRISÉL ATTEWELL AVAILABLE FROM BERMAN CONTEMPORARY Stained wood and glass 40 x 30 x 8 cm – POR ‘I wanted to investigate the burnt body of the forest, to find signs of healing and life. The bark of dead trees looked like the burnt skin of a creature. I peeled away at the skin, picking at the scabs, expecting raw infected flesh, but instead I found patterns. Underneath the bark of the dead trees was bare wood, tattooed throughout.’ – Chrisél Attewell bermancontemporary.com@bermancontemporary…

‘Wine from Khayelitsha? But how do you make wine without your own vineyards?’ These are the questions 35-year-old Lindile Ndzaba’s community has always asked him. ‘People would insist that this is not legit. No one trusted me, but I kept my marketing consistent until I was able to penetrate the market. That was ultimately my biggest challenge – gaining the trust of the masses and my customers. Everything else has been easy.’ Inspired by fresh ideas, innovation and the spirit of the entrepreneurs uprising now, Lindile says, ‘I’ve always been a hustler and an entrepreneur, and I have had businesses before I started in wine. When people gave me negative feedback, I would challenge this and decided to persevere. Most people don’t know that I was a high school dropout.…

One of the key reasons that property is an attractive investment is due to it being seen as a stable place to put your money. Investing in the right property ensures attractive returns, but more than financial gain, the right realty can truly transform your way of life. A 2021 study conducted by wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth found that lifestyle estate living is on the rise for many reasons: it provides security and privacy; a safe outdoor lifestyle and sense of community; myriad facilities (gyms, pools, parks, schools) all in one location and limited and controlled traffic. South Africa is recognised as a global pioneer in estate living and, if you have the means, there’s no shortage of choice in this arena, but there are those that are…

My mother always had a rule when it came to buying new clothes: buy one, give one. Every time I bought an item of clothing, be it new or secondhand, I had to donate one piece in my wardrobe. This is a habit I have carried into my adult years and one which has grown in popularity amongst my generation, and, more recently, with fast fashion brands. Some offer vouchers for their store if you hand in your pre-loved clothing, others donate the items to an NGO on your behalf. Fast fashion brands have become particularly adept at disguising marketing tactics in the name of sustainability. While some donated clothes really do find a new home or are upcycled into new items, many of them – approximately 85%, according to…

Colour tip Pair pops of primary red and soft pastel pinks with warm neutral tones to create a cheerful, quirky space that is easily adaptable.…

Paint tip Combine pale shades with bold tones for a more-is-more aesthetic – dare to experiment and don’t be afraid to play.…

It was a tough couple of years for us all, so a big thank you to everyone who submitted projects to the 2021 awards programme! We were surprised and excited to receive 59 submissions – an enormous achievement. In this time of the pandemic, we congratulate all of those who submitted for completing excellent projects and, thanks to House and Leisure, we are so pleased that we can share these incredible achievements in architecture with the broader public. The 2021 submissions consisted of 57 projects in Category A, in the form of built projects and two in Category B, in the form of publications. Residential projects remained the dominant character of the submissions, but we saw an increase in residential apartment blocks, with some mixed-use buildings as well. The remaining…

Architect: KLG Architects AWA 2021 winner For this build, the brief asked for the design of new tourist accommodation, an administration block, public ablutions and parking for day visitors, as well as walkways within the UNESCO designated Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. This ecologically sensitive and environmentally volatile area is home to the world’s richest concentration of floral diversity per unit-area. The winters are wet and cool, while the hot, dry summers can see the ferocious southeaster tearing through the Palmiet River valley at extreme speeds. The architects’ response is the outcome of a highly informed approach to site, scale and materiality, carefully executed throughout the range of interventions that compromise the public and private elements of the programme. The self-catering units, which are available to rent exclusively through Cape Nature, serve…

Architect: Michael Lumby Architecture AWA 2021 winner Seemingly taking its cue from a standard Vredehoek home footprint, here the architect carved out a remarkable celebration of form, space and a play of light. From the outside, every beautifully crafted steel opening introduces a new form, a change in the configuration or a coursing of the dominant brick facades. These facades provide to either offset the planting in the boxes generated by the formal interplay, or to eventually allow a total overgrow of the entire structure. Internally, every space is carved out of this solid brick form with a remarkable balance between economy of space and comfort. Moving through the house it is difficult sometimes to understand how, within such confined parameters, opportunities for space and volume could be found, how…

Architect: SAOTA and Jaco Booyens AWA 2021 winner Buffelsldrift Farm in the Klein Karoo is an adaptive reuse heritage project. The site originally housed several Cape Dutch buildings that were built on the farm during the mid-1800s with the main house dating back to 1852. In 2017 the architects were faced with a dilapidated and neglected site and chose to approach it with love. Evidence from earlier refurbishments of the 1970s were removed. The plaster was stripped out to reveal the original palimpsest of the structures and the construction technique. These traditional construction techniques, such as the use of poured earth, were recognised and adopted by the architects. The project acts as a dialogue between historic Cape vernacular techniques, indigenous construction and contemporary urgencies around sustainability in the built environment.…

Architect: Onyx Architects AWA 2021 commendation As one approaches the winery from a meandering path through a fynbos garden, the symmetrical glass facade of the cellar is framed by two beautiful mature oak trees. Just one of the sensitive ways that the building is shaped around the constraints and opportunities of the site. The building is both intensely pragmatic and robust, yet elevates the function through its celebration of form, to create an almost cathedral-like quality. This is mainly achieved through the detailing of the timber scissor trusses, which allows natural top light to illuminate the double-volume structure of the fermentation cellar. This distinguishes itself from the traditionally dark and cave-like typology of a wine cellar. The backdrop of the oak trees on the glass facade become an intrinsic element…

Architect: Meyer & Associates AWA 2021 commendation This school in Worcester is essentially a gesture of gratitude to the community and, although it is privately funded, it is operated by the Western Cape Education Department. The result of this build is a wonderland of expressive architectural forms and elements, which are packed full of topical, ecological and sustainable responses to the environment. With each of these attributes being used as learning opportunities for the young scholars and the community at large; from the generation of its own electrical power, to collecting rainwater, to the demonstration gardens providing food, and more. With a pioneering spirit, breaking from the usual institutional form, the school accommodates 250 learners from this previously disadvantaged rural, farm-working community, in its outstretched dove-like wings. With a sweeping…

Architect: Urbane Citizen AWA 2021 heritage recognition This project – which involved the refurbishment of two neighbouring heritage buildings of different eras and architectural styles – is notable for its careful understanding of, and response to, the heritage significance and character of the site and its component structures. Rather than retaining historical features for reasons of heritage constraints alone, here the architects have treated the structures’ heritage elements in a respectful but playful manner – in dialogue with them rather than simply preserving them. The result is a building where the new insertions are in balance with the older elements in terms of their craftsmanship, fine detailing and location. Historic lobbies, lifts, roof tiles, windows and structure are exposed and add texture and a sense of time and bygone grandeur…