Obtaining planning approval for single residential buildings in the City of Cape Town is difficult enough, let alone obtaining development rights for a multi-unit development on top of an existing house with heritage status. The client sought to take advantage of the booming property market at the time. The plan was to construct 2 additional dwellings units for rent, directly on top of an existing single storey house. The proposal was to demolish the roof, reinforce the existing masonry walls and construct a new lightweight steel structure on top.

The new building would now consist a 1-bedroom loft apartment with panoramic views of the mountain, and a pair of 2-bedroom homes overlooking Woodstock and the Cape Town Harbour beyond. All under a clean, contemporary portal envelope.

I was engaged on the project from the on set, measuring up and developing as-built CAD drawings of the existing house. Working under principal architect Jacques van Niekerk, these formed the basis on which I developed the concept and design into 3D, construction drawings and a council package.

I took the plans through a complex series of applications for Land-Use Management, Woodstock Property Owners Association, Heritage and Building Plans Approval and eventually obtained full council approval to develop