Slow Time

The interior design studio OKHA projected a house with a minimalist approach, located on the slopes of Table Mountain overlooking Green Point and Sea Point in Cape Town.

From the street, the house has a discreet, modest presence and passers-by see little more than a slatted timber fence. Through the front door with its protruding and recessed panels, as you enter and descend into the living spaces. Floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors embrace the view over the city towards the ocean and let in abundant natural light. OKHA decided to embrace the contrast and harness this spirit of place. That idea of ‘slow time’ is the golden thread that brings together every interior decision in this house. OKHA rigorously pared back the detail and dialed down the colours of the interior to create a refined minimalist setting. This leads to a large living area consisting of a kitchen, dining area and two lounges, one of which is formal. The walls are white, and pale oak has been used throughout for the floors, cabinetry and screens. Whatever colour there is comes from the natural materials. Apart from the timber, OKHA’s choice of stone, such as the leathered Spanish Nero Marquina marble around the fireplace or the waxed steel used in some of the furnishings, retains a rawness that expresses their natural materiality. These raw, textured finishes have been chosen because they absorb and soften the abundant natural light, creating a soothing atmosphere. Perhaps the most important animating feature of the house and the element OKHA responded to most profoundly in this project is the natural light that filters into the interiors. When the light falls on the internal volumes, you get beautiful modelling and shaping of the internal space - with that in mind, OKHA has created strong sculptural forms and clever detailing that catches the light. The play of light gives form enhanced definition and impact. The extensive use of fluted plastering, for example, creates patterns of light and shadow, and the sculpted, geometric forms, around the fireplace allow the light to become an active agent in modelling and expressing shape.

The shape of the barstool brings your attention to the empty space, so that the empty space becomes a shape in its own right. The design of the chair becomes a frame for the negative space.

This approach inspired a design language of solid and void in several of the interior architecture details and bespoke furnishings in which the voids become features in themselves. This is evident in the design of features such as the timber screens and in key items of furniture, such as the Void Barstools in the kitchen. The sliding screens are clearly stylistically Japanese and add versatility to the openplan layout, they open up and close down spaces, allowing rooms to expand and contract, becoming expansive or intimate as required. For example, the perimeter of the house can open up to an internal courtyard on one side and city and sea scape views on the other.

In the same way, also in the master bedroom, large timber pocket doors can disappear entirely, another instance of the essential duality at the heart of this home’s character. Here, the notion of multifunctionality is included in the bespoke, built-in furnishings like the bed units that combine the functions of bed, desk and side table. More than furnishings, however, they are installations that define the whole room. As the room, also the adjacent master bathroom enjoys an elegant design and a breathtaking view of the city.

Furniture and interior architecture become one unified element...