The Voelklip house forms part of a series of projects by Team Architects exploring the transformation of the courtyard type in response to the constraints and opportunities presented by specific sites and programmes.

At a general level the courtyard offers a focus to the collection of rooms seen to be necessary in the contemporary middle class home, and in the context of the Cape, it offers an external space sheltered from often extreme weather conditions. On the other hand, like many coastal locations, the site presents an extraordinary richness of views, drawing the attention of the eye out towards the horizon.

The primary tension between turning inwards and turning outwards is central to understanding the design of this house. The second tension inherent in the site is between the views to the south east and south west (the sea view to the south blocked by an existing house), and the path of the sun from northeast to northwest. The third is between access to the garden and access to the view. Given the large size of the house and the small size of the site, the decision to lift the main living suite to the top of the house, and open it out to the views, whilst focusing the ground floor around the courtyard, turning a secure and solid wall to the street, has produced a house which is quite rationally upside-down, inside-out, and back to front.

The need to bring north light into the center of the plan and to shield the upper terrace from the afternoon sun has resulted in a structural grid carrying generous and gently folded concrete canopies. The shift in section which catches the sun and the view back to the mountains is echoed in plan by an offset between structure and enclosure in the plan to make space for circulation and service spaces. These two shifts animate the surfaces of the building, and allow for a variety of local solutions to the fenestration in response to view, sun, shading, security and display.

The building is strong and clear and refreshingly free from the often fussy and arbitrary stylistic tropes that seem to overwhelm so much recent domestic building in the Cape. It is a rational piece of architecture and sound precedent for further development.