Higgo Road Modern House in Cape Town by Malan Vorster Architects

This modern house covers the beautiful natural landscape provided by the Table, Head Lion and Signal Hill slopes. The location of the villa offers views extending to the city and surrounding urban areas. Some of the challenges posed by this site are the inclined terrain with coherent spatial flow and intermediate environmental factors while maximising and framing panoramic cities, bays and mountains. The villa is determined by its relationship to the landscape, in some cases glimpses of the natural setting while in others obscuring the definition of internal and external space by completely opening the interior space to the surroundings. The base walls and stones are terraced and raise the natural slope to create a new landscape for the main house. The articulated living areas are on stone floors, but are sheltered underneath the heavier and heavier bedroom volumes above. A double volume kitchen on the ridge of the house allows interaction between more private spaces and the living area below. The relationship of the modern house to both the immediate landscape and its macro scale is further emphasising by placing the pool and secret entertainment areas behind the Islamic back or the ridge of the house.

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Photos: Adam Letch