This Cruciform Dwelling Fully Embraces its Natural Surroundings
Just half an hour away from Cape Town lies a lush residential sprawling surrounded by vineyards, polo fields, rehabilitated fynbos mountains and valleys, with the Berg River carving through. The area, named the Gentleman’s Estate at Val de Vie, is one of Africa’s most secured luxury residential communities famed for its natural beauty and security.
So, when a family of six secured a lot, they commissioned ARRCC and SAOTA to conceive a house that would make the most of its surroundings.
“The client wanted the space to have a strong indoor-outdoor connection, yet still feel intimate enough to be private,” says Michele Rhoda, director at ARRCC.
“Our primary objective was to strengthen the architectural response to the unique estate lifestyle, calling for a multi-directional design. The project is unique in the sense that its design has completely surrendered to its natural surroundings.”
The 742m2 abode unfolds across five overlapping squares in a cruciform arrangement, which comprises a central communal area for living and dining, flanked by interlocking squares for the bedrooms, kitchen, and utilities.
The dwelling also boasts a kitchen with panoramic mountain views, four bedrooms, a wine cellar, a dining area, office space, a children’s playpen, a pool, and a garden. The design team also created a series of green pockets and courtyards around the house, “as if the home was ‘stitched’ into the landscape”, Rhoda says.
But with security and scenery came rigorous aesthetic guidelines to preserve the estate’s picturesque beauty.
“Drawing on the natural beauty and the agricultural heritage of the surrounding valley, the estate’s aesthetic guidelines specify a contemporary interpretation of various farmhouse-inflected architectural styles, taking inspiration from Cape vernacular architecture as well as other rural precedents stables,” he notes.
“Working within the bounds of the estate’s stylistic framework, we sought to reimagine a refined contemporary country house with ample entertainment space that would invite its natural surroundings in while ‘living out’ to facilitate an immersive experience of the outdoors.”
To this end, the geometry of the floor plan opens the interior to views in all directions. Upon arrival, you are greeted by a double-volume pitched-roof arrival area that leads into the main kitchen, adjacent to the enclosed wine cellar.
The kitchen segues into the double-volume entertainment areas composed of the living and dining zones, where floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors and clerestory windows invite the magnificent outdoors in. The soaring pitched ceiling echoes the vastness of the surrounding landscape, creating a sense of grandeur within.
Taking pride of place in the living lounge is a bespoke hand-chiselled sandstone plinth supporting a fireplace, mingled in harmony with nearby natural materials such as timber and screed floors and raw off-shutter concrete. The fireplace is surrounded by Leon couches adorned with Incanda cushions, complemented by Il Lusso coffee tables, and Galia Gluckman artwork.
The adjacent dining area is more intimate and cosy, accentuated by a Casarredo dining table, Leon at CCXIX chairs, and a Stephen Pikus pendant that kicks-in to the ambience.
“The absence of structural columns also made for a seamless indoor-outdoor connection that enhances the sense of a light, floating structure and the immediacy of its relationship with the setting,” Rhoda says.
Outside, sheltered terraces strategically flanking the central living area, offer respite from the winds. The pool showcases a floating island and a long, elegant canopy that frames the landscape and sky.
“Such extensions emphasise the horizontal lines of the architecture and balance the high central volume.”
The outdoor lounge furniture is by Cane Time (Dedon Furniture), pool loungers with triangle cushions by Leon at CCXIX, lanterns by The Grand Living, and a coffee table by Weylandts.
Also designed with a natural connection in mind, the en suite bathroom off the master bedroom features a freestanding bath and a symmetrical design intended for a sense of balance that emphasises the view as a focal point.
“In conjunction of strict estate guidelines, the brief prescribed pitched roofs and exposed timber rafters, as well as a palette of natural materials, including timber cladding, off-shutter concrete, and natural stonework which is offset with white plastered walls. All of which serve as key design elements throughout the space,” Rhoda concludes.
“While this home remains respectful of the estate guidelines, its complex response to its setting and the client’s lifestyle requirements demonstrates that stylistic limitations need not hamper a rich and unique architectural response.”