Travis Ronaldson

Observatory, Cape Town

Observatory Cottage Rear Extension

Opening a tight Victorian footprint to a north-facing courtyard.

The house sits in a row of single-storey Victorian cottages, and the front two bedrooms had to stay exactly as they were. What the owners wanted was a kitchen, a dining table that seats six and a quiet corner for reading, all pushed to the back of the plot. The site is only 4.2 m deep to the boundary, and a mature fig tree stands where the obvious extension would go.

The plan steps around the tree rather than removing it. A short glazed link takes the circulation past the trunk, then the new room opens north onto a paved courtyard. The original roofline stays intact from the street, so the heritage frontage reads unchanged.

Rear extension of a Victorian cottage with timber-framed glazing opening onto a small courtyard
North courtyard after completion. Saligna frames, lime-washed pier at the old wall line.

The constraint

A 4.2 m boundary depth and a fig tree with a root plate that reached under the existing slab. Nothing could be built within 1.5 m of the trunk, which pushed the new footprint into an L rather than a straight run.

Drawing set

Existing and proposed plans at 1:50, a section through the new roof junction where it meets the old pitch, and an axonometric of the full joinery run from the pantry to the window seat.

Materials

Locally sourced saligna for the window frames, a lime-washed brick pier holding the old wall line, and a screed floor laid in one pour so the courtyard and the kitchen read as a single surface.

How the room was built

The wet core stayed where it was. Moving the kitchen plumbing would have eaten most of the allowance, so the sink and the range sit on the original wall and the new work went into the glazing and the floor instead. The joinery run is a single line of saligna-faced units with an open shelf above the counter, kept low enough that the courtyard stays visible from the dining table.

The roof junction was the fiddly part. The new flat section meets the old pitch at a shallow angle, and the section drawing shows the lead flashing and the concealed gutter that keeps water away from the heritage wall. On site, the bricklayer rebuilt the pier in lime mortar to match the original bond, then it was lime-washed rather than painted.

Project notes from the drawing board

Three recent jobs, each with the constraint that shaped it. The full drawing sets, material boards and site photographs sit on the individual project pages.

Rear extension of a Victorian cottage with timber-framed glazing opening onto a small courtyard

Observatory

Observatory Cottage Rear Extension

Opening a tight Victorian footprint to a north-facing courtyard

The brief asked for a kitchen, dining and reading room without losing the two front bedrooms or the heritage streetscape. The constraint was a 4.2 m deep site boundary and a mature fig tree that could not be moved. The drawing set includes existing and proposed plans, a section through the new roof junction and an axonometric of the joinery run. Timber is locally sourced saligna for the window frames, with a lime-washed brick pier holding the old wall line. The budget was held by keeping the wet core in place and spending on the glazing and the floor.

Open the Observatory project
Design studio interior with a long timber drafting table and exposed brick walls

Woodstock

Woodstock Studio Fit-Out

A working drawing studio in a former textile warehouse bay

The unit is a 68 sqm bay in a Woodstock warehouse with exposed brick, a north clerestory and a floor that slopes 90 mm across the width. The fit-out levels the work zone with a raised timber platform and leaves the rest of the floor as found. Drawings cover the platform framing, the electrical layout for task lighting and a detail of the pinboard wall. Materials are birch ply, blackened steel for the shelving and a cork pin surface. The client wanted the space to read as a workshop, not an office, so the services are left visible and the storage is open.

Open the Woodstock project
Compact apartment interior with a full-height timber joinery wall and recessed desk

Sea Point

Sea Point Apartment Joinery

Storage, desk and sleeping alcove in a 52 sqm flat

The flat had three doors on one wall and no usable storage. The proposal replaces the partitions with a 6.4 m joinery wall in oak-veneered ply, with a recessed desk and a bed alcove that borrows light from the living room. The drawing set includes a full elevation, a plan at 1:20 and a section through the alcove soffit. Tile layout in the kitchen was kept to full modules to avoid cuts at the visible edge. The client is a remote worker who needed the desk to disappear at the end of the day, so the alcove has a sliding panel rather than a fixed screen.

Open the Sea Point project

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