Angle Poise

This bold and sculptural alteration in Cape Town is a masterclass in the richness, warmth and sensuality of a dark colour palette

- Graham Wood

Angled at a rakish 45 degrees in one of the leafier corners of Camps Bay, Cape Town, is a home that looks out in a different direction to the rest. The drama of the abode’s nonconformist geometry is emphasised by its dark, almost black facade. That said, it’s anything but a reactionary rebel. Rather than being forbidding, the house imparts a sense of warmth, offsetting the verdance in and around it in a way that makes it seem somehow elemental – like an abstracted part of its surrounds.

Until recently, this bold addition to the suburban landscape existed in an altogether different incarnation: it was an Art and Crafts style bungalow. The owner lived in the building as it was for six years before making substantial changes – just ‘feeling it out’, as he puts it, and enjoying the setting. ‘We loved the greenness and leafiness of the site,’ he says.

It might not have had the panoramic sea and mountain perspectives typically sought after in the area, but the property was nestled in a relatively sheltered corner of the suburb, just 12 minutes’ walk from the seashore. ‘We have a lot of greenery around us, unlike most of the rest of Camps Bay, where it’s quite hard and stark,’ says the owner. And it had lovely vistas. You can see parts of the beach and the cable car station on Table Mountain, ‘and we’ve got wonderful views on the Hout Bay side, all the way towards the Twelve Apostles,’ he adds.