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South African Bridle Rd House Wins Award

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The Bridle Road House in Cape Town, South Africa by Chilean architect Antonio Zaninovic won an American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award, for both the house and the landscaping. It is comfortably sited in big sky country at the base of Table Mountain.

Both suburban and sophisticated, the South African house rests easily at the intersection between the tamed and the wild.

Indeed, at first glance, it even appears that wild cats roam the gardens, threatening the inhabitants during an evening swim. But no, it turns out that these are just the owner’s rather feline-looking dogs.

The proportions and division of the walls and windows — including the “picture windows” overlooking the Cape Town harbor — create an openness without the feel of exposure.

A nice sense of proportion informs the interior spaces, especially around window sizes and placements.

The interiors are calming spaces, that impart the tamed jungle feeling around the house. The interiors are by Lucien Rees of New York City-based Rees Roberts + Partners.

The polished earth/concrete floor acts as a natural thermal regulator, and heat repelling glass is chosen for the windows to keep the interiors cool during long stifling South African summers. The architect chose to incorporate South African Balau wood for a sustainable local material.

Another sustainable aspect of the design is the cross ventilation. Outdoors, cool reflecting pools cool air that passes through the house, pulling hot air up and out of the open ventilation near the ceilings.