Rejuvenated Grande Dame

GAPP Architects and Urban Designers, working closely with Source InteriorArchitecture, have given a century-old Cape Dutch Revivalist icon in Cape Town amakeover, leaving it looking more modern and more itself than ever.

Photography: supplied

The Winchester (formerly The Winchester Mansions Hotel) was one of the very few remaining examples of Cape Revival architecture in Sea Point. Many of its neighbours date back to the 1960s and 70s when the area was substantially redeveloped, but the much-loved heritage building has maintained its prominent position on the Sea Point Promenade for more than a century.

Winchester Mansions was built in 1922 and was originally an apartment block. It was converted into a hotel in 1958. Although it has been altered and added to over the years, it retained a good deal of its charm and stood as an architectural landmark in the area.

The sea-facing façade of the refurbished hotel keeps its distinctive Cape Dutch Revival gables intact and has refined the fenestration to recapture some of its original rhythm. A sleek steel and glass roof now replaces the vintage canvas awning at the entrance, revealing charming Art Deco detailing.

It was also a well-loved destination for locals and tourists, partly owing to its high visibility from the bustling promenade, and partly on account of its central courtyard restaurant and bar (previously a parking court) and front terrace. As Andrew Flint of GAPP Architects and Urban Designers – who recently completed a R90m renovation and upgrade of The Winchester – describes it, it was also a “place of memory within the city” (or “social significance” as the heritage report has it) for many people, including hotel customers. Beyond the heritage protections to which it was subject, the sensitivities of guests and the broader public, as well as the sentimental attachment of the hotel owners to the building, had to be taken into account in the refurbishment of the building, which began in 2018.

Part of the hotel’s distinctive character and sense of romance derived from its idiosyncratic variety of rooms and quirky details – not to mention the vast, brightly coloured bougainvillea that dominated the threestorey façades on the inner courtyard – which any such project would have to be careful not to compromise. Mardré Meyer, creative director at Source Interior Brand Architecture (IBA) – who guided the rebranding of the hotel and was also involved in the interior design of the guest rooms and public spaces, working closely with GAPP – notes that the hotel is distinctive in the way it evokes nostalgic fantasies among its guests of the glamorous travel of yesteryear.

The renovation and upgrade was originally prompted by the need for an infrastructure upgrade, particularly relating to the plumbing and bathrooms. Many exterior walls and corridors had untidy exposed drainage and plumbing pipes, and the upgrade presented an opportunity to relocate and conceal many of them. Further investigation led to the discovery of more architectural challenges, such as the need to upgrade haphazardly installed HVAC systems and electrics and make other alterations. Certain staircases needed to be closed off and new ones added to meet fire-safety compliance laws. The owners and architects became aware that the building “was starting to show increasing signs of decay and dilapidation”, prompting a more extensive proposal to refurbish the whole building.

The scope of the work thus expanded to include not just the hotel-room bathrooms, but the rooms themselves. Some of them, particularly the front, sea-facing rooms on the first floor, could be reconfigured to align with the distinctive arched windows along the front façade, as they had been clumsily positioned before. The terraces, once open balconies, had long ago been enclosed and incorporated into the hotel rooms, but this alteration could be improved. The reception area, courtyard and terrace were subsumed in the scope of work, too, as were other necessary structural repairs.

The extensive refurbishment also allowed The Winchester Hotel’s sea-facing rooms to better capitalise on their remarkable views across the Atlantic Ocean to Robben Island. These soughtafter rooms have been entirely reconfigured to create spacious sea-facing suites, including a signature Executive Suite with a private ocean-facing terrace.

Jaco Kotze, contracts director at GVK, contractors on the project, points out that a significant portion of the third-floor slab and ground-floor reception areas needed to be strengthened. “Demolition required extensive stabilisation and back propping to maintain structural integrity while work was in progress,” he says. Water tanks, previously concealed behind a simple screen, were relocated beneath the courtyard. GVK’s Patrick Miles adds, “Possibly one of our biggest challenges was to ensure the survival of the existing bougainvillea in the courtyard during construction. The vines and leaves were periodically cleaned and nurtured during the period. The courtyard received a fresh new look, with new hexagon porcelain tiles making for an impressive finish. The existing water feature was removed from site during construction and reinstalled on completion.”

GAPP and Source IBA were deft in balancing the necessary practical improvements with their approach to the heritage and sensitivity to the character of the building. Much of the extensive architectural work is of the invisible sort. The ceilings in the corridors, for example, were dropped to accommodate and conceal HVAC ducting, services and pipes, and replaced within a coffered style to closely match the previous existing ceilings.

Project architect Lisa Doucha notes that, as a general principle, the aesthetic aspect of alterations attempted to simplify and enhance existing details. Where the extraneous clutter and add-ons were removed, the architects had an opportunity to refine the lines, clean up the detailing, and emphasise elements “that were intrinsic to the original building”, as Flint puts it. These interventions retained the quality and character that visitors and the owners responded to, but “fresher and a bit more contemporary at the same time”. Noteworthy details were given the opportunity to “jump out”.

Meyer says that, in the past, many guests and visitors to the hotel would wilfully overlook certain details (such as the exposed plumbing), mentally editing their experience to match their romantic fantasies of its character. This habit

guided his and the architects’ choices in the refurbishment. “What people remembered remains recognisable,” he says. What they ignored has now been erased in reality. Where new elements were added, they were frequently designed to draw attention to noteworthy historical details, and to remain compatible without mimicking or imitating historic details (and thus devolving into pastiche and fakery). As Flint points out, the fact that the architectural style was Cape Dutch Revival rather than Cape Dutch meant that the original features already included a certain eclectic quality, which in turn allowed GAPP and Source IBA a certain latitude in their contemporary reinterpretation.

The iconic central courtyard has been rejuvenated with new tiling, extensive landscaping and the re-installation of its refreshed signature fountain.

Two noteworthy examples include the new pergola at the entrance and along the front terrace, and the introduction of arches in the reception leading to the courtyard. (As the courtyard was originally a motor parking court, the reception was a driveway.)

At some point in the hotel’s history, a canopy had been added at the front entrance, which concealed a beautiful moulded architrave with Art Deco styling. The slim, steel port cochere that replaced it functions almost like a “picture frame” that now reveals and emphasises the detailing. Its materiality and modern aesthetics offset the historical detailing and sensitively add layering with contemporary relevance.

Meyer suggested the introduction of a barrel-vaulted reception, picking up on the building’s distinctive arches (on the exterior along the first floor, but also along the internal corridors facing onto the courtyard) and amplifying the importance of the motif throughout the rest of the building. The arches also draw the eye though the reception area (now cleared of furniture and other barriers) to the courtyard, framing it and, as Meyer explains, offering a “streamlined vision from the street” towards the heart of the building.

The crisp black-andwhite colour scheme throughout the hotel’s public areas help to create a neutral backdrop for quirky décor elements and furnishings that portray the building’s rich history and personality. Certain areas, such as the courtyard – which has been rejuvenated with new tiling, extensive landscaping by Carrie Latimer Landscape Design and the reinstallation of its signature fountain, now refurbished – are allowed to bring complexity and detail to the design.

The hotel is now a more cohesive, better structured space, the crucial parts pieced back together and consolidated. “We changed everything and yet it doesn’t look like we did,” says Flint.

“I think actually what we delivered is the fantasy that everyone always had of the Winchester,” says Meyer.

“In a world needing more and more of a sustainable approach, the idea of adaptive reuse has become more and more relevant and worthwhile,” concludes Flint.

Professional Team Architect: GAPP Architects and Urban Designers Interior Design and Branding: Source IBA Main Contractor: GVK-Siya Zama Cost Consultants: MLC Construction Cost Consultants Project Managers: Turner & Townsend