HIGH DESIGN

MERGING ART DECO SENSIBILITY WITH CONTEMPORARY SOPHISTICATION, THE INNOVATIVE TUYNHUYS RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT BUILDING PRESENTS A CONSIDERED ADDITION TO CAPE TOWN’S HISTORICAL CITY CENTRE

- MEGHAN HO-TONG

A trailblazer in Cape Town’s urban renewal movement, Robert Silke cares about making buildings that extend the rich mythology of the city, woven by artists and storytellers. The architect’s most recent creation, Tuynhuys, wedges into a narrow site on historical Keerom Street in the city centre – a former gracht (canal) where sailors who rowed their dinghies up from the harbour into an unexpected dead end were forced to turn around or keer om (turn around).

As a contemporary building that has only just come into being, Tuynhuys feels like a structure that dates from the past, yet belongs to the future. Traces of the Art Deco movement can be read in the building’s sculptural forms. Silke speaks openly and enthusiastically about his great love for Art Deco, explaining that ‘what inspired us about Deco is not the style, but the optimism about the future’. The architecture’s sense of timelessness is perhaps a quality that will ground it in Cape Town’s skyline for ages to come.

Tuynhuys is undoubtedly a bold new addition to the CBD, embodying as much personality as its characterful architect does. But no matter how bold, it remains considerate of its surroundings. ‘It speaks as much to the Victorian and Art Deco as it does to Senator Park,’ explains Silke – in a nod to its neighbour, Tuynhuys has echoed the arches of the 1980s postmodernist Senator Park and turned them sideways to create one of the most distinct features of its curvaceous facade. Silke worked closely with heritage agencies during the development of the project and proposed a strategy where the building steps back respectfully from the street front in plan to open up space around the adjacent Victorian building’s historical turrets.