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Canvas of PLANS & DRAWINGS

KLOOF HOUSE by SAOTA, an Architectural Framework on Cape Town and its Landscape

Canvas of PLANS & DRAWINGS

Keywords:

Interviews , Green Architecture , Slow Architecture , High-technology

SAOTA, a leading architectural firm based in South Africa and developing projects across the six continents, owes its success to the creative minds behind it, namely Stefan Antoni, Philip Olmesdahl, Greg Truen, Phillippe Fouché, Mark Bullivant, Roxanne Kaye and Logen Gordon. Medelhan had the chance to speak with one of them, Greg Truen, Director and founding member of SAOTA, who brought us into the backstory of the Kloof House project, between visions, inspirations and new technologies.

Kloof House, a three-story residential Villa in Cape Town, South Africa, features a unique architecture which allows views over the surrounding landscape from the Table Mountain, the Lion’s Head, the Signal Hill, the city of Cape Town up to the mountains of the Boland and the winelands in the distance. The whole project, indeed, has been thought as a concrete framework to the outside view extending beyond the horizon.

“How do you make a connection to the sky? How do you place somebody in a landscape so that they primarily experience the land, the environment, and the sun and the moon moving through the sky? How do you dematerialize the building?”. One of the challenges with domestic architecture or any kind of architecture was also: “How do you manage the way people can access the space system? Do you really leave the outside world behind you in the coming?”. These are questions that SAOTA made itself and took as an opportunity to create a visual connection with the horizon into the distance.

Greg Truen, Director and founding member at SAOTA
Greg Truen, Director and founding member at SAOTA
“We do not need our houses to protect us from the environment around us. We actually want them to be filters at last, to engage in the landscapes. I thought quite a lot about how one could draw the landscape and draw the mountain into the space we inhabit. The mountains, the big experience, and it was the thing that we wanted to unlock” – Greg Truen

Such a synthesis with nature is seen in the inverted pyramid roof, in the internal compositions of gardens and courtyards and in the chromatic palette ranging from the dark colours employed for the exteriors to the muted earthy tones of the interiors. The result is a fascinating harmonic complexity, unveiled for us by Greg Truen.

Every project usually stems from a certain inspiration. What has been the driving inspiration of the Kloof House project in particular?

The brief was to create a house that made the most of the mountain site and the views that surround the house while obscuring the busy street and the surrounding houses from the view. Thus, the surrounding environment has been both the inspiration and the motif around which the project has been shaped. The resulting spaces are simple, with use zones articulated by level changes in the floor and ceilings. There are gardens on every level which extend into the view creating the impression that the building sits in the mountain landscape. The inverted pyramid roof allows for views of the peaks of Lion’s Head and Table Mountain, letting one to track the movement of the sun and moon across the sky.

Kloof House, Cape Town, South Africa, SAOTA - Image copyright:@Adam Letch & Micky Hoyle
Kloof House, Cape Town, South Africa, SAOTA - Image copyright:@Adam Letch & Micky Hoyle

Kloof House stands out for setting up a thorough conversation between architecture and nature. What elements make it possible?

Letting nature run through the building was the key mechanism. Each level is seen as a planted slice of the mountain with the rooms positioned on these slices. Therefore, plants come directly up to the glass. We also cut voids through the building to draw light and air deep into the space. Being able to see all of the way to the horizon is also a major component for us. The experience of nature, which starts in the foreground and from there continues along all three floors is very profound. Also, being able to follow the path of the sun and the moon thanks to the views opened up towards the sky strengthens the experience and somehow brings them into the home space.

Through your projects form and function are made into dialogue. How do you engage with these two fundamental aspects in order to reach unity?

The design process of the roof was about trying to understand where Lion’s Head was, and where the Cable Car was, and plot out the view lines, to bring in as much of the scenery as possible. This is why we thought of an inverted pyramid roof, which was the exact and perfect union between form and function.

Kloof House, Cape Town, South Africa, SAOTA - Image copyright:@Adam Letch & Micky Hoyle
Kloof House, Cape Town, South Africa, SAOTA - Image copyright:@Adam Letch & Micky Hoyle

We also looked at how people would actually physically move through the space and how that could be cinematic in a way. There are little bits of landscape that are to be found around the internal spaces that we have created. Indeed, there are pockets of courtyards on every level that allow light and plants to almost completely surround each space.

Your work is also made of research and experimentation. What innovations have you introduced in the field that you are most proud of?

SAOTA makes large use of high technology in its design process to better understand the location, the views, the winds, the climates as well as other significant aspects. It has allowed us to design buildings that can respond to the different forces at work and to communicate the designs to our clients. As for the innovations we have introduced and we are proud of, I would cite the Research unit dedicated to analysis of materials, with a particular focus on sustainability.

Kloof House, Cape Town, South Africa, SAOTA - Image copyright:@Adam Letch & Micky Hoyle
Kloof House, Cape Town, South Africa, SAOTA - Image copyright:@Adam Letch & Micky Hoyle

What role does computer technology play in the development of the Kloof House project in particular?

When designing Kloof House, SAOTA incorporated virtual reality, Revit and 3D technology to build the home in the digital environment and to illustrate what the project would look like once constructed. The design team used VR to virtually “walk” into the design space to study the spatial relationship between the surrounding environment and buildings.

Over the years, SAOTA has been able to reach an important international character. What have been the main steps on the way towards such achievement?

The Head Quarter of our studio is based in Cape Town, but most of our work takes shape elsewhere. So far, we have developed projects in 143 cities and 86 countries, on six continents and we are proud to have built a design business that can compete globally using South African expertise and endeavor. Communication has been a huge part of this, as we own all of our photographs and are very active on social media and design platforms as well.

With reference to South African Modernism, and a grounding in the international style, our projects take advantage of wildly beautiful settings and are rooted in place by the relationship between the building and its site. The studio cites the spirit of enquiry and close examination of function and form as hallmarks of its work, as well as the use of the most current technology, including virtual reality, in its design processes.

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