Scotts Building, Cape Town

This office building, constructed in 1933, was designed by architect, W H Grant.

It's on the corner of Darling and Plein Streets in Cape Town.

The upper floors have exquisite decoration which continues down the façade above the entrance.

Reference:
Art Deco Architecture - Cape Town Map, Cape Art Deco Society, 2003

Shell House, Cape Town

Shell House, Cape Town

Herschel Court, Sea Point

At the moment I keep getting drawn back to the wonderful Art Deco apartment block in Sea Point, Cape Town.

This is Herschel Court (1938) showing the features you would expect of sun-drenched deco flats. Open balconies with concrete eyebrows providing shade and a white colour-scheme with aqua highlights and reddish window frames.

Herschel Court also features two of these wonderful entrances.

Reference:
Art Deco Architecture Cape Town Map, The Cape Art Deco Society, 2003

Cintra, Sea Point

Cintra (1943), Sea Point

Reference:
Art Deco Architecture Cape Town Map, The Cape Art Deco Society, 2003

Rose Court, Sea Point

I really enjoyed dipping into Sea Point yesterday so I decided to stay in Cape Town for today's building, in fact I stayed in Sea Point, ust a few doors up from Bordeaux Court.

This is Rose Court in Avenue St Denis. Again it has squared-off open balconies atthe corners of the building with deep concrete eyebrows to provide lots of shade.

The entrance is marked by two vertical fins. They rise above the name of the building spelt out in metal letters above the door either side of a series of small square windows providing light for the stairwell.

Bordeaux Court, Sea Point

I love the contrast between the dark of the trees and the light of the building lit by the South African sun in this photo of Bordeaux Court in Sea Point, Cape Town.

From memory (and the other photos I have), Bordeaux Court is symetrical with squared-off stepped back sections either side of this central cureved area. The balconies at the corner of the building are open with those on the top shaded by deep concrete eyebrows.

This view from the another angle shows the open balconies and the dramatic setting Bordeaux Court provides for its residents in the shadows of the hills around Cape Town overlooking the ocean.

Baredna, Cape Town

This is a very interesting block of flats in Cape Town and not only beacuse of the name, Baredna. Is it Bar-Edna, Ba-Red-na or even Bare-DNA? No doubt the architect, Alexander Stewart Cruickshank, could tell us what the name meant when the flats were built in 1939.

Now let's look at some of the features of the buildng. Firstly, they are asymetrical because of the corner site allowing Cruickshank to place the place the windows cutting through the near-corner of the building.

Then we can see that the curved balconies on either side of the central tower were once open but now only one on the upper two floors remains so.

The tower has two squared columns running up the section of glass bricks with three crossbands near the roofline.

Interestingly the name is not rendered on the central tower but on the right section of the building between the conventional residential windows.

Finally, a glimpse of some of the attention to detail with this little railing in the stairwell.

Reference:
Baredna Flat, Artefacts.com.za

Flats, Vredehoek

A piece of Cape Town eye candy. These flats are in Vredehoek with the magnificent Table Mountain in the background.

Bellair Mansions, Vredehoek

Bellair Mansions, Vredehoek

Adelphi Court, Vredehoek

Adelphi Court (1939), designed by architects J Talberg & J Rubenstein.

Reference: Art Deco Architecture, Cape Town Map produced by The Cape Art Deco Society

Dunrobin, Vredehoek

Colosseum Building, Cape Town

The Colosseum Building is a landmark Art Deco building in Cape Town.

It was constructed 1936-38 and designed by W H Grant. In recent years it has been converted into apartments.

Reference
Cape Town Art Deco Architecture Map, Cape Art Deco Society, 2003

Flats, Cape Town

Alas this is another of those Art Deco buildings snapped in a strange city and I know very little about it.

I know that the photo was taken on one of our bus tours during the 2003 World Congress on Art Deco in Cape Tour. From the sequence of photos I suspect it is in the 'lower foothills' of Vredehoek or at least on the way there.

Feel free to leave a comment if you know this building and can help identify its location.

Namaqua House, Cape Town

Looking back at this picture of Namaqua House in Cape Town I am amazed at how the colourful the deco building is compared to the later buildings surrounding it.

Even on this relatively dull day in 2003 the cream and coral colours stand out.

Namaqua House was built in 1929 to a design by architects Roberts & Small. The top floor features a cantilevered balcony on each of the two face of the corner-sited building. The Cape Town Art Deco Architecture Map indicates his is an early use of such cantilevered balconies.

The balconies and corresponding sheltering canopies are the most decorated parts of the building.

Glen Alpine, Vredehoek

This absolutely fabulous Art Deco block of flats is Glen Alpine in the Cape Suburb of Vredehoek.

Dating from 1939, Glen Alpine was designed by architect Dawood Jacobs.

The location is spectacular, in the foothills of Table Mountain overlooking downtown Cape Town.

Claradave Mansions, Vredehoek

I love the names that crop up on Art Deco buildings. Claradave Mansions, you can only wonder who Clara and Dave are.

Claradave Mansions are in Vredehoek, nestled below Table Mountain overlooking the downtown area of Cape Town.

The name above the door includes the year 1934 and it would be interesting to know whether the garage built into the nearside of the building dates from that time.

The arrangement of the twin staircases hidden behind stepped walls leading from the main central entrance is very attractive.

Apartments, Cape Town

I snapped this apartment block from one of our bus tours at the 2003 World Congress on Art Deco in Cape Town.

It is always great to see when original open balconies have been retained and no doubt the South African climate helps in this regard.

The windows are relatively small. Again this is probably a reaction to the local climate, an attempt to keep the flats cool during summer. And I do like the way they are cut through the corners of the block.

A Streamline Building in Cape Town

This streamline art deco building is in downtown Cape Town. I saw it during the 2003 World Congress on Art Deco but it wasn't part of the tour so I don't know what building it is at all.

I know where it is. Diagonally opposite Muller's Optomerists. Maybe someone from Cape Town can identify it for me.

It has this fabulous stepped clock on the corner above the verandah but looks a bit unloved.

Waalburg, Cape Town

The Art Deco Architecture Cape Town Map produced by the Cape Art Deco Society includes this building in Wale Street.

Now called Waalburg, it was originally the Sanlam and Sanlam insurance company and dates from 1932 by architects Louw and Louw.

Relief panels in bronze and Table Mountain stone depict the themes of life in south Africa.

A House Near Cape Town

On our visit to Cape Town we hired mini-van and a driver for a trip down the cape, spotting deco and wildlife as we went.

This house was just off the road on the side of a hill and I'm sure we all yelled 'Stop' simultaneously when we caught a glimpse of the colours and that amazing circular room at the front.

I like the red and blue stripes above the large curved window and the port hole near the door, but my favourite part is the eyebrow on the rectangular window on the left of the door which starts above the window and sweeps around to ground level.