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On the mezzanine level, Nguni dining chairs by Vogel
Design (vogeldesign.co.za) surround a table by Chris
van Niekerk, a friend of the couple. The light is by
Liam Mooney (liammooney.co.za); Ruben used black
slate flooring throughout the home as a nod to the
architects’ signature style. This look is also evident in
the staircase, whose original balustrade was painted
black; a Rabbit lamp by Front for Moooi (moooi.com)
is placed on a terrazzo table covered in indoor plants.
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Ruben stands against a double-volume walnut
bookcase in the living room, which was custom-
designed for Fourie, who is a publisher. Included
on the shelves are ceramic vessels by Ruben.
n the fashion of so many modern concrete edifices today, greenery
cascades down the facade of the four apartments that make up this
architecturally significant building. But this block isn’t just another
conception of a young landscaper keen to bring a touch of verdancy
to Cape Town’s urban jungle. Erected in 1971, it was one of the first
additions to Claremont’s suburban scene that smacked of Le Corbusian
modernism. Distinctly right-angled and deceptively simple in structure,
it was perhaps considered by residents of the stately neighbouring
homes to be an unwelcome display of the avant-garde in this
predominantly neoclassical setting. ‘You can just imagine it: in the
middle of Claremont, with all the Victorian houses, this spaceship has landed,’
says homeowner Ruben Rossouw, who moved into the abode just two years ago.
There are few South African buildings that draw such effusive praise from fellow
architects as those conceptualised by Adèle Naudé Santos and Antonio de Souza
Santos. The duo is responsible for a cluster of Cape Town’s most admired and studied
builds – from the legendary Rowan Lane in Kenilworth to Iona Court in Newlands- all of which is well documented in essays by local architects such as Ilze Wolff
and Robert Silke. And while this property is tucked away in a small horseshoe road
in Claremont, it’s far from hidden. In fact, Ruben and his partner Fourie Botha
regularly open their doors to architectural students who come knocking, eager
to get a peek inside the structure they pore over in the pages of their textbooks.