"Conceptually, the relationship between the main house and the accommodation below, separated by a shared wall, references the row houses that historically characterize the area. When it came to designing the main house, however, instead of a garden on the ground level, Philip extended the footprint of the house right out to the setbacks to create a podium on the lower two levels. “I wanted to build my garden up in the sky,” he says. The podium includes garages with a gym, guest and staff accommodation, and utility rooms. The upper two levels are dedicated to the living space, which, from that height, can take maximum advantage of the spectacular views of the city. The third level accommodates the living area and a covered outdoor terrace. Four ensuite bedrooms plus a small lounge and study occupy the uppermost level, including a generous office for Philip and a yoga studio for his wife
From the street, the boundary walls and plinth are finished in grey stipple plaster, a reference to Cape Town’s mid-century residential buildings and associated with the campus of the University of Cape Town and its prominent place in the city’s architectural heritage. However, the building’s primary identity is imparted by the distinctive red-pigmented off-shutter concrete of the upper levels, especially the angled pre-cast concrete screens mounted on steel frames, which provide shading and privacy for the extensive façade glazing. The choice of color, Philip says, was partly based on memories of a trip he and his family took to Mexico. He also repurposed terracotta breezeblocks that formed part of the old boundary wall, which, he says, were “removed, stored, sandblasted, brought back and built into the structural steel screen”..
