Beyond
SAOTA
Client: Stefan Antoni
Entry from the road gives a carefully composed impression of four lower stories with tantalising glimpses of two more levels towering above. The lower levels play host to six bedrooms and a double volume entertainment space complete with spa, games, and cinema. Principal living is at the very top of the building – an expansive, double-height open-plan space that houses kitchen, bar, dining, living and family rooms as well as a winter lounge, study and art studio at a mezzanine level. The glazed lines between inside and out peel back to blur the boundaries in a continuous transparent space that links a back garden, opening directly onto Table Mountain National Park, to a pool that stretches out towards the sea in front.
The entrance façade responds to Le Corbusier’s definition of architecture as a “magnificent play of masses brought together in light” – and the journey through space and light that follows is inspired by the Modernist movement. The spatial experience is similarly considered; the house feels like a robust, seamless form whose functions are defined by intersecting planes, ceilings and floor treatments.
The masterful interplay of light, space and raw materiality in the house plays generous host to its other family – a considered collection of contemporary South African art. The lines between home and gallery are always blurred.