Studio ST&AR: House Carpenter Frank

Approach to house

House Carpenter- Frank is a new two level semi-detached building on Quarterdeck road in Kalk bay, sited on a platform cut into the mountain slope and supported on the road side by a series of battered retaining walls. In a similar load bearing manner the front terrace introduces a final wall which the house then sets back from.

The site originally held two freestanding mono-pitch cottages which were incorporated into one building with a Spanish style in the 1970’s. The property and house was then subdivided with an internal division wall precariously becoming a party wall between the two properties. The Client requested a conversion of their two bedroom mezzanine apartment into a full double storey to accommodate a family of four, but due to the poor state of the structure it was necessary to demolish the existing building bar the party wall and neighbouring structure.

View from Kalk Bay Park

Street view

The simple layout of three bedrooms over three living rooms with circulation backing onto the new party wall was the initial spatial idea. The existing old party wall was carefully reinforced and extended to provide a new watertight and sound proof division between the old and the new. From this the roof could only pitch away and alongside the wall, setting up the simple roofscape and a parapet condition off which both parties could suspend roofs.

The ground floor living spaces are all open plan, with services at the rear screened off the kitchen. All rooms open out onto terraces with views across False bay. Internally the stair and 1^st floor landing serving the bedrooms, are lit by a series of skylights between exposed rafters.

Staircase landing

Dining Room

Lounge

Living Room

Kitchen

A title deed servitude initially constricted the girth of the building, but once relaxed the wider layout had just enough space to accommodate an entrance lobby next to the living room on ground floor with the main en-suite shower above, complete with cantilevered corner for uninterrupted views and whale watching.

The open plan design and mono pitch roof immediately lent itself to a contemporary approach and so the materials and colours chosen and the openings and eaves were designed accordingly. The scale of the house is diminished by splitting the finishes on the South West façade with a hard wood cladding and plaster finish. The stepped plan layout, broken facades and overhanging eaves further temper the massing of an otherwise simple mono-pitch box.