House Invermark - Oranjezicht

Designed & delivered by Riaan Marais - assisted by Henk Marais & Joshua Putz

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This was a refurbishment and remodelling project of a typical 1950s house in Oranjezicht.  The original house, although altered and added to over the years, still retained its distinctive Oranjezicht aesthetic, typical of houses in the area of that time. 

 

The brief from both the client and Heritage Western Cape was to retain some of the key original features internally, but more importantly from the street aspect. 

 

The site is located high up the slopes of Table Mountain, offering fantastic views to Lion’s Head in the West, over the City Bowl due North and all the way to the Tygerberg in the East.  One of the most exciting challenges was to connect the house with the fantastic views of the majestic Table Mountain towering over the neighbourhood to the South. 

 

The existing house was essentially a single storey dwelling built on concrete stilts.  Over the years, previous owners had filled in the space below the house with compromised height accommodation.  The existing house, built on quite a steep slope was consequently disconnected from its immediate surroundings.  Two of our main challenges were to connect the house to its immediate surroundings, but to also maximise the fantastic views offered by its position high up over the city bowl. 

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Client Feedback :

I love so many aspects of the design of our house! I love the way the space allows us to move easily around the house. I love the cross vaulted colonnade that supports our spacious stoep, the barrel vaults downstairs and the brilliant huge skylight that allows us to see Table Mountain as well as the beautiful curved staircase. The whole design experience with Connect Architects was a delight. Riaan really went the extra mile to give us this house that we adore.

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Marelu