236 Buitengracht Street is a small, mixed-use building in a mixed-use enclave on the interface between the central city of Cape Town and the Bo Kaap. The site was initially vacant; bounded on three sides by existing heritage buildings in poor condition, whilst further down the street, a diverse collection of commercial buildings from the second half of the 20th century have replaced the older fabric.
© Adam Letch
The presence of the retaining wall to the service road gives these buildings a shared podium, meaning that they will always be seen as an ensemble rather than as slices of a city face only ever seen in close oblique. Because the zoning scheme allows for a five-storey building, the land price allows for no less be built, and so the stage is set for an interesting game – how to find a building form which incorporates into itself the tensions of this context whilst developing a coherent presence of its own.
© Adam Letch
Layered onto the complexity of context is a complex brief or set of briefs. The city demands on-site parking, the street would benefit from an active frontage, the architects need a new studio, and the client, an art collector, wants a ‘skypad’ and insists that it is all made from concrete. The key to the solution is a tightly planned circulation core located front and centre of the site.
© Adam Letch
The building line restrictions mean that the lift cannot rise to the top floor, and so a two-level penthouse comes into play, with living spaces located at third floor level and bedrooms and a lap pool, en suite to the en-suites occurring at fourth floor level. This placement allows for the mass to be broken down forming a picturesque skyline stepped away from the street edge, with a viewing balcony facing the city and a sheltered terrace looking up to Signal Hill. The pad is held up in the sky by a base, consisting of a pair of double-volume studio spaces flanking the internal circulation.
© Adam Letch
Their spatial arrangement has a built-in flexibility with shared common uses, allowing it to function as singular studio in the future should the need arise. The lane-way adjacent to the south-west elevation results in a narrow separation in the solidity of continuous facades, sufficiently so to place a diagonal emphasis on this corner of the building when viewed from the street.
© Adam Letch
The lowest level is a podium of parking, sliding seven bays into the slope of the site through a single slatted-steel screen. Most of the street wall is given over to glazing. A giant order door at the scale of the older adjacent faҫades gives entry to a double-height hallway; overlooked by a bridge that joins the lift access to the studios. Adjacent to the lobby is a small gallery, displaying art to both patrons and to the street.
© Adam Letch
© Adam Letch
Project Info
Architects: Team Architects
Area: 1250 m²
Year: 2018
Country: Cape Town, South Africa
Photographs: Adam Letch
Manufacturers: Louis Poulsen, PERI
Structural Engineer: Shape Structures, Gustav Kroeger Consulting Engineer
Quantity Surveyor: Multi QS
Town Planner: D&S Planning Studio
Design Architect: Philip Stiekema, Antony Abate
Project Team: Faheem Slamong
Sophie Tremblay is a Montreal-based architectural editor and designer with a focus on sustainable urban development. A McGill University architecture graduate, she began her career in adaptive reuse, blending modern design with historical structures. As a Project Editor at Arch2O, she curates stories that connect traditional practice with forward-thinking design. Her writing highlights architecture's role in community engagement and social impact. Sophie has contributed to Canadian Architect and continues to collaborate with local studios on community-driven projects throughout Quebec, maintaining a hands-on approach that informs both her design sensibility and editorial perspective.