MAXED MAKEOVER

Genius space-saving hacks and magnifying tricks have turned this compact Cape Town apartment into an expansive and liveable family home

- LAURA TWIGGS

Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable, observed Donna Karan. And as living-space illustrations go, this apartment in Sea Point, Cape Town, would be hard to match as a successful example of balance.

At just 138 m², it's not the size that your average would-be family-home hunters would entertain for a moment, much less go on to view and purchase. But then, headed by Michael Udell (former MD of digital advertising agency Punk) and Carin DeanWales (serial entrepreneur), the family that did just that isn't what anyone could call 'average.

To them, the actual physical size of the apartment wasn't nearly as important as its orientation - with light that floods in through windows facing North, West and East and views that take in the ocean, Robben Island and Table Mountain's Signal Hill. On top of this was an added boon in the desirable, built-up area: rare privacy afforded by the school directly opposite, which effectively blanks out an entire phalanx of neighbours and allows the sort of expansive, indoor-outdoor living seldom experienced in densely populated urban 'flatlands'.

The first intervention was to create a monochromatic frame where black panels punctuate white screed floors, walls and ceilings - effectively blurring spatial parameters and visually guiding the eye towards the windows, thus encompassing the views and suggesting vast and unobstructed distances while ensuring that natural light assumes centre stage.