About the project
Located in the leafy suburb of Higgovale, set below the iconic Table Mountain, House Invermark, Cape Town overlooks the city and harbour of Cape Town. Originally designed, in 1969, by respected South African architect Gilbert Colyn for himself, it was inspired by two iconic modernist houses – Phillip Johnson’s 1949 Glass House and Mies van der Rohe’s 1951 Farnsworth House.
In 2013, architect Stefan Antoni, director at SAOTA, bought the house. By this stage, it had reached a poor state of disrepair and featured numerous inappropriate alterations and additions that were out of character with the language of the building. Had it not been for Antoni’s intervention, it might have faced demolition.
The architects enhanced the overall composition and significantly refined the living experience to bring it up to date with contemporary style. In the living area, kitchen, main bedroom and bathrooms, the structure and screens were removed to facilitate a free flow of space. Changes were also made to the exterior spatial configuration, and the swimming pool was relocated from the darker mountain side to the sunny sea view side, providing additional privacy. This freed up the courtyard, which became the family garden with a row of elderflower trees running along a new linear water feature.
The end result of all these alterations was a structure that merged seamlessly with the surrounding landscape and managed to travel the decades into a modern, contemporary era.
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