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At the foot of Table Mountain, where granite escarpments dissolve into a grove of stone pines, ARRCC has reimagined a residence that is as much a meditation on place as it is an exercise in design. Known as Glen Villa, the project began with a home originally designed by architect Antonio Zaninovic, which ARRCC has transformed into a sensuous dialogue between architecture, landscape, and the rhythms of urban Cape Town just beyond.
The challenge, and the opportunity, was one familiar to architects working in extreme geographies: whether to pit the house against its surroundings or to let it surrender, gracefully, to the mountain’s embrace. ARRCC chose surrender, orchestrated with rigor and subtlety.
A pavilion in the trees
The most conspicuous gesture is the transformation of an open garden structure into a pavilion that seems both grounded and airborne. Chamfered eaves, taut planes of glass, and a muscular frame dissolve the boundary between earth and canopy. The architecture oscillates between gravitas and levity, settling into the terrain even as it hovers among the branches. Upstairs, the expansion of a bedroom into a penthouse suite extends this balancing act, giving the clients a retreat that feels simultaneously rooted and untethered.
Barefoot luxury with midcentury poise
Materiality carries the ARRCC signature of barefoot luxury, refracted here through a subtle midcentury lens. Marble slabs cool to the touch, bleached timbers radiating warmth, brushed metals that soften with age: The palette is a choreography of opposites. Led by ARRCC Principal Mark Rielly and his team, the interiors are not about gloss or spectacle, but about the tactile intelligence of things well made. “Every detail reflects a refined authenticity where craftsmanship and tactile materiality have been expressed to reflect a contemporary design approach that feels both grounded and enduring,” says Rielly.
Local crafts anchor the furnishings, with pieces by Okha, Martin Döller, and glass artist David Reade stitched together in a composition that values authenticity over ostentation. Leather, fur, and woven textiles mirror the textures of the surrounding mountainside, while metallic accents and mirrored surfaces capture the energy of the city below, visible in the shimmering glass orbs of the dining room chandelier.
Between mountain and metropolis
What emerges is a house that fuses the grandeur of the wilderness with the glamour of the city. The project is a testament to ARRCC’s philosophy that design must always negotiate between client and context, between shelter and spectacle. Whether in Los Angeles, Miami, Dubai, or Cape Town, the essence of the practice remains the same: Architecture is at its best when it listens.
At Glen Villa, ARRCC has reflected the surrounding mountain and stone pines in a design that balances solidity and openness, creating a home where the natural environment informs the interior character.
