Vīb as in vībrant

Known for sculpturally curvaceous buildings, Robert Silke & Partners did not hold back when designing the newest addition to The Best Western Vīb collection – a first for the Mother City and the only Vīb in the Southern Hemisphere.

PHOTOGRAPHY DAVE SOUTHWOOD AND LINLEY MEAVERS

As architects for the iconic Tuynhuys apartments opposite the Cape High Court, as well as the upscale Onyx apartment hotel on Cape Town’s Foreshore, Robert Silke & Partners is known for its sculpturally curvaceous buildings that transcend the ascetic functionalism of the developer norm.

Vīb is pronounced “vībe”, as in “vībrant”, and the Best Western brand concept calls for design excellence and smart, svelte new buildings on tight sites in AAA-grade locations around the world. Vīb is targeted at the young, smart, tech-savvy traveller to whom wi-fi speeds are far more important than the big old motelstyle rooms of yesteryear.

Vīb Cape Town’s façades are crisp and white with contrasting gloss black detailing and dark tinted glazing.

The voluptuous and curvaceous architecture of Vīb Cape Town references the upbeat tropical modernism that marries serious European design of the 1920s and 30s, with the flamboyant luxury of the great coastal resort cities of Miami, Rio and Honolulu.

Cape Town’s Vīb is one of only four around the world, and this one is instantly recognisable by its gigantic rooftop pool-deck that playfully cantilevers 25m over Main Road Green Point, sporting aquarium-grade portholes in the bottom and a giant plexiglass smile on the front. Vīb Cape Town evokes the grand tropical modernism of Sol Kerzner’s original seaside hotels.

The voluptuous and curvaceous architecture of Vīb Cape Town combines tropical modernism with the flamboyant luxury of great coastal resort cities such as Miami.

ART HOTEL

Vīb Cape Town further distinguishes itself as an art hotel, inspired by The Betsy Hotel in Miami. Jaffer Modern is the dedicated, purpose-built modern art gallery located immediately below the rooftop pool, with dramatic vistas over Green Point Common towards the sea, as well as playful porthole views up into the actual pool, akin to a human aquarium – making this the world’s first art gallery with its own en suite pool-deck.

ARCHITECTURAL

The hotel is cleverly orientated northeast, so that most rooms face the street fronts. Some rooms face due east, enjoying the optimal climatic orientation to make the most of morning light – while protected from the afternoon heat. Other rooms face due north, enjoying breath-taking panoramic views over the Green Point tree canopies, over the Green Point Common and towards the Atlantic Ocean. Most rooms sport floor-toceiling windows to maximise blue sky and views down to the sea.

While the hotel boasts a worldclass rooftop pool-deck, and even its own modern art gallery, there are no wasteful and expansive public areas, conference halls or ballrooms.

The brief for the hotel was tight and muscular and svelte, and is ultimately all about luxury and value and design – which enabled the clients to build a blue-chip hotel in a world-class location, at relatively affordable room rates.

The ground-floor reception level offers guest check-in facilities, as a sophisticated, bistro-style barlounge and pavement café, as well as social areas, private meeting areas and work spaces. The design style is modern, sculptural and optimistic. Futuristic even.

Jaffer Modern is the dedicated, purpose-built modern art gallery on the hotel's top floor.

ARCHITECTURAL FUTURISM

Futurism succeeded the Art Deco style in Europe and the USA, but never made it to South Africa, where it was sadly eclipsed by austere and ascetic architectural Modernism, which (largely due to cheapness of construction) became the dominant force in generic buildings across the country. Futurism was, in contrast to Modernism, sculptural and decorative, playful and optimistic.

First pioneered in Italy by Filippo Marinetti, Futurism was kept alive in the 1960s by John Lautner’s flying saucer houses in California, and is today best represented in the work of Zaha Hadid Architects. Futurism is synonymous with bespoke, premium properties in forward-thinking global centres. In pursuit of an aesthetic system in which to frame a new, state-of-the-art boutique hotel, the Futurist architectural aesthetic is the perfect fit for Vīb Cape Town.

The ground floor level offers guest check-in facilities as well as a sophisticated, bistro-style bar-lounge and pavement cafe.

CRISP CLEAN PALLETTE

All Vīb hotels are modern, crisp and white. Vīb Cape Town’s façades are detailed in a contrasting gloss black, with dark tinted glazing. The overall façade aesthetic is mostly white, with black eyeliner and beauty spots, reminiscent of the elegant stormtrooper uniforms from Star Wars. The only colour in the façades is limited to the crimson red of the Vīb logo.

public areas are generally finished with solid stone floors and solid oak ceiling features. Crimson red detailing throughout the hotel really pops against the generally monochromatic materials choices.

Custom and bespoke Cara Saven wallpapers feature throughout the hotel, with each guestroom lined in a hand-drawn locality map of the Green Point area, because (rather than escapist fantasy) Vīb Cape Town is about the joy of living here now.

Vīb Cape Town smartly packs a king-size bed, a study area, a large-screen TV and a state-of-the-art e n suite bathroom into 72 smart and compact 18m 2 guestrooms.