Cape Town | South AfricaOffice
Arcadia
Step inside South Africa’s most prestigious RESIDENTIAL project.
“Our goal was to give the Cape Town Real Estate market a truly iconic architecture.”
When Axis Property Group, a property development company, contacted Forte Architetti for a new residential project in Cape Town, the brief was simple and concise: build an iconic architecture that would become the flagship building for the company.
The irregular shape of the plot, located in one of the most sought-after areas of the city on the prestigious Arcadia Road in Fresnaye, is surrounded by steep slopes and tall buildings that block the view – both challenging factors that had to be carefully considered and integrated into the design process. More than countering for this, however, is the ocean view on one side and the glorious panorama of Signal Hill on the other, which combine to make it a truly unique and almost magical setting.
Credits: Adam Letch + VISI
A design that celebrates the natural setting and enhances the urban scenario
After extensive studies, the challenges presented by the environment were transformed into strengths, which led to the creation of a unique architectural design: the expositions, the views, the altimetric differences and the dialogue with the surroundings are all an intrinsic and inseparable part of the result.
The result is Arcadia: an innovative yet sophisticated high end residential architecture that’s fully integrated in the natural context, overlooking both the ocean and hilly landscape
inland.
The complex consists of five semi-overlapping units conceptually designed to resemble more a house than an apartment: from the main elevation, the suggestion of a ‘big block of flats’ is
totally lost and it appears much more like an elegant, luxury house. Two sloping slabs contribute to its dynamism, and despite the large volume of the building, the continuous descents of the upper floors allow it to fit seamlessly into its context.
Rethinking the relationship between internal and external spaces
Different combinations of shapes, angles and materials used in the exterior structure are the result of an outstanding design approach, along with the alternation of only two colors and the use of the preciously elegant iroko screen on the façade. The carefully designed deep terraces, located in the non-conventional ‘rear’ of the building, are conceived to ensure a proper outdoor living style, enhancing the stunning views and allowing residents to make the most of the good weather. Here pools, pergolas, gardens and decks define a new style of living that’s more connected with nature.
Rethinking the relationship between internal and external spaces
Each unit in Arcadia proposes a unique design, with each floor offering particular characteristics that makes them absolutely distinctive. Inside, the angles and walls are shaped by the desire to create highly-suggestive and evocative spaces where the living area is projected outwards, turning into an outdoor lounge that’s closely connected with the interior. One of the dominant factors in the entire design process is the relationship between internal and external spaces. Shaped by the beauty of natural elements, each internal environment corresponds to an external one, similar in size with a strong and harmonious relationship with the previous one, to ensure that the interiors project naturally onto the outside and vice versa.
Completed in March 2020, all Arcadia apartments were sold in a very short time, making it the most prestigious real estate development in South Africa.