Robert McKendrick of Scotchworx Carpentry turned his skilled trade to his own residence for this transformational solution to a flatlet at his home in Hout Bay. Situated on a rise surrounded by mountains in the beautiful suburb of Hout Bay in Cape Town, McKendrick has made valuable changes to his property to capitalise on the views at the premises.

Scotchworx Carpentry is the company responsible for many elegantly beautiful balustrading solutions Tensile Cables has had the privilege of supplying cables to. Other examples include this installation at the apartments The Lofts in Tokai, Cape Town.

The staircase to this flatlet originally obstructed the interior of the household by extending into the garage and entrance way. McKendrick’s solution to add a balcony and external staircase alongside the building results in a decorative feature of timber and stainless steel tensile cables balustrade with metal scrolls which McKendrick installed himself.

Timber as a solution for the railing of the balustrade is a significantly more cost effective option which is also more time efficient. The cables are a minimalist addition which offer security and compliment the timber and decorative steel work.

The answer is yes. And this is not an indication of the integrity of the product or whether it is susceptible to corrosion. According to SASSDA (Southern Africa Stainless Steel Development Association) the following is true of Austenitic stainless steels:

Yes, Austenitic stainless steels (types 304, 316 etc), are generally non-magnetic in the fully annealed condition, however, they can become slightly magnetic when “cold worked”. This is due to a stress induced transformation of the austenite crystal structure into a martensitic crystal structure. This cold working can occur from various sources: cutting, bending, forming, machining.

Additionally, all austenitic stainless steels have a relatively small percentage of ferrite (a magnetic crystal structure) intentionally introduced into the austenitic structure (typically 3-5%) to aid in the hot workability of the steel. This will also result in a very slight “pull” on a magnet.

All of these will result in some small level of magnetic pull, and are not necessarily indicative of the product not being stainless steel, or Austenitic, or of the product being inherently inferior.

At the Epicurious Garden in South Bank in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, creative solutions have been used in this edible community garden through trellises including a green wall statement signage piece with tensile cables.

An ‘epicure’ is by definition “a person who takes particular pleasure in fine food and drink”, and this community garden is “part of Brisbane City Council’s broader plan to inspire people of all ages to become home gardeners. Related initiatives include library workshops on a range of topics such as keeping chickens, propagating plants and heirloom seed saving. Cooking workshops and others highlighting permaculture garden principles also feature.”

The sign is a 5 metre long showpiece by Innovative Rigging comprising of a steel frame with a vertical stainless steel cable trellis running vertically from the ground up to the letter signage. Over time, vines have overgrown the sign nestling the letters in lush greenery.

Sources:

www.weekendnotes.com/soth-bank-epicurious-garden
www.innovativerigging.com.au/portfolio-type/epicurious-garden-south-bank-parklands-brisbane-city
www.visitbrisbane.com.au

Tom Robertson Architects were responsible for the minimalist beauty that is the Cable House in Port Melbourne, Vic, Australia. The home was designed with paired back materials for simplicity. This perfectly suited the introduction of cables for structural and aesthetic solutions in various parts of the house.

The cables also allowed for more greenery despite the constraints of an urban environment. Built in trellis boxes blur the lines between the building and its landscaping as after a few months, greenery will be winding its way up the cables creating a natural facade.

Tom Robertson wanted to be sure not to overcrowd the space. Cables seemingly disappear allowing for structural support without cluttering the available space.

Image & Source: https://thelocalproject.com.au/the-cable-house-by-tom-robertson-architects-project-feature-port-melbourne-vic-australia/