Tall, Dark, & Handsome

This Camps Bay belle embraces bold, bronze, and black design to embody the urban-chic character of Cape Town...

Acting as an addition onto the client’s existing main house

recently completed by Greg Wright of Wright Architects, Cranberry Pavilion brings the two together to create something truly striking. The pavilion typology largely informed this boutique home project, culminating in a structure that has been kept to the minimum while still celebrating materiality and blurring spatial boundaries, as the Cranberry family of buildings are known to do.

Dazzling in its dark colour and angled composition, the structure is situated above the original main house. The morphology of the cottage is characterised by two thin floating planes stacked on top of each other, jutting out into the surrounding lush garden. The illusion of these floating planes is accentuated by levitating them from the perimeter stone walls by means of discreet steel columns, achieving the characteristic light and open structure of a pavilion.

With sweeping views over the Atlantic Ocean from the west-facing façade, the iconic Lion's Head from the first-floor terrace, and the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range framed through the clerestory windows; the site perfectly embraces its coveted Camps Bay topography.

The dark colour palette and materials reference the main house, with the earthy greys, blacks, and bronzes of the stone wall getting picked up throughout the building. The floor tiles subtly reinforce the geometry of the primary structural elements, fragmenting the tiling pattern with the introduction of brass in-lays that extend vertically into the ensuite bathrooms accentuated by the late afternoon golden light.

Interior and exterior boundary thresholds are blurred by means of large sliding aluminium doors that, when opened, provide the sense of expanse into the external landscaped areas. The interior furnishings, form, and the selection of materials and colours have been carefully orchestrated to work harmoniously together with the architecture, further complementing the experience.

SHOP THE LOOK

Sintered stone countertops

Neolith – 083 805 8698

Laminate surfaces

Arpa Fenix, available from Max On Top – 086 111 3495

Flooring

Belgotex – 033 897 7500

Paint

Dulux – 0860 330 111 Marmoran – 021 797 4250 Interpon, available from AkzoNobel South Africa – 011 861 0500

Tiling

WOMAG – 021 447 6161

Joinery

FFC Joinery – 021 556 0695

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PAVILION

Architects: Wright Architects, Greg Wright (Director and Principal Architect), and Suzaan de Kock and Gert Coetzee (Design Team) Interior designer: Mazel Interior Design Structural engineer: Poise Design Quantity surveyor: Riverside Consulting Photographer: Christian Cooke