Anne-apolis

 Last week we looked at furnishing a historic building, which leads us to the question of what style and date our building is, so that we can make decisions in harmony with its architectural era. In South Africa, the earliest dwellings in a Western style date to the 18th Century in the Cape Dutch style, characterised by whitewashed walls, thatched roofs and decorative plaster gables. This style remained popular into the early 1800s, and saw a revival in the 20th Century, often with copies of the gable at Groot Constantia, the most famous of the original Cape Dutch homesteads. Groot Constantia, a Cape Dutch homestead (creative commons licensed: https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/media/cape-dutch-building-fbbb50) From 1820, we see the introduction of British influence, initially in the Georgian style with often very plain white plastered walls, elegantly proportioned timber windows and slate or metal sheeting for the shallow-pitched roofs. Through the 19th Century, this sty...

I have recently been exploring people's strategies for inhabiting Art Deco apartments, looking into their approaches to furnishings and furniture, and any adaptations that they may have made to their spaces to suit a modern lifestyle. The recurring theme in their responses was whether to attempt to decorate in a style that matched that of the exterior of the building, or whether to use a more modern approach. Their principal concerns were around cost and availability of contemporary pieces of furniture, but this leads on to a deeper question of aesthetics and authenticity. An Art Deco lounge (creative commons licensed:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Havana_Art_Deco_%288963955085%29.jpg#/media/File:Havana_Art_Deco_(8963955085).jpg) The photo above is an extreme attempt to create an entire environment in keeping with the early 1930s, including the floor and wall surfaces. The "Lucky Strike" branded ashtray introduces a humorous touch which relieves it from being t...

  In this blog, we look at strategies for staying where you live or work already, and the minimal adaptations that you can make to your environment with the least impact on your space and budget. This relates to my lifelong passion for conservation and history of architecture, in that the least impact on the built environment generally equates to the most historically sensitive. This said, it is not always possible to change only the fittings and furniture particularly as the modern word has changing requirements for services and transportation - we need to make larger-scale adaptations, which take on an additional considerations when working in a historical or conservation environment. My involvement in conservation dates back to the 1980s, when as a newly graduated architect, I was approached to assist with the garden and parking layout of Hazeldene Hall , a historical building in Johannesburg. The owners wanted to convert this mansion into a restaurant, which had to comply with ...

This blog is aimed mainly at helping you live better where you are already, whether your home or your workplace, but today we explore looking at new premises, when all else fails in space making of our existing property. It is also a good idea to look around at what is on the market now and then, even if to confirm that we are living in the best possible place. In today's blog post, I share some of the things I look at when asked to give an architect's professional opinion on a potential purchase, or when I am more informally looking at houses with family or friends.  Today, we have the advantage of online listings of properties for sale with multiple photos or walk-through videos, allowing us to "view" dozens of offerings in an afternoon or as a regular pastime in the morning while waiting for the coffee to cool. We can use filters to narrow the search in terms of number of rooms or cost bracket. This is quite different from the past when properties were only listed ...

  My default design style is for single pictures on a wall with large expanses of painted plaster all around, so it was something of a challenge to contemplate a gallery wall in my living room.  Since I have recently moved into a much smaller office, I have a number of significant photos that need a new home. I also have a few other pictures stacked up, waiting for a space on my walls. The photos include several graduation photos, some family photos, a couple of artworks that were gifts, and a large photo of my favourite cat. The photos are too important to hide in an album or to rotate out, and I would not have enough wall-space to hang all of them conventionally.  A formal layout from Pintrest:  https://za.pinterest.com/pin/611926668143218077/ I started on the gallery wall project by exploring Pintrest, YouTube and Instagram for inspiration and tips - there is a wealth of wonderful projects and posts to get you going, with examples that range from very informal thr...

At key stages in our lives, whether we are a student, new professional in a costly city, recently separated, or moving into a retirement facility, a studio apartment may be our best (or only) option for accommodation. We would then need to sleep, work, cook, relax and entertain in a single room. This can be quite challenging, physically and psychologically, as the boundaries between different parts of our lives may become blurred. We may feel constrained because of the limitations of our space. In today's blog, I look at some simple and economical strategies that we can use to optimize space, enjoyment and liveability of a single living space.  A common problem with single-space living is that the bed tends to dominate the room, especially if it is one undifferentiated space. One approach is to look around for multi-functional furniture, such as a sleeper couch - there is quite a wide range of styles and prices to align with your taste and budget. The advantage of a sleeper co...

  I moved out of home when I was 21 years old, and lived alone both as a young adult and again since 2015. My mother has also lived alone since she was in her early 50's, some 40 years ago. When I moved into my current one-bedroom flat, I did not anticipate sharing with anyone. My children had left home, and lived in their own flats, in various parts of the country. But then COVID hit in 2020, and I needed to accommodate my mom for an indefinite time while we waited for her new home to be available. Any alterations to my flat had to be completely reversible, possible to do under the various lockdown regulations (so within our own abilities to move furniture, and redecorate), and we wanted keep the costs to a minimum, as this was a very temporary situation. Original layout of the bedroom and livingroom of my flat At the time, I was working from home, giving live lectures and chairing meetings, so it was essential that I could have extended times of complete privacy and quiet. My mom...