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House Zapletal
Nairobi, Kenya
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Click to view map Coordinates: | George Zapletal escaped from communist Czechoslovakia with his wife Lida, by swimming - at night - across a river border. After their arrival in Nairobi they acquired a property on Wood Garden Road and George designed (and subsequently built) a flat roofed double storey Modernist style house. The Nairobi City Council did not recognise George's engineering credentials for the Municipal Submission, however Lida - who had a Chemical engineer's qualification - was allowed to sign them. The house was situated at the west end of Wood Garden Road (a cul-de-sac off Hurlingham Road) with four or five other houses also accessed from it. The house was entered from beneath a large projecting bay (or carport) on the south side supported on a row of slender concrete piloti's. Some of the other significant features of the house included a large double volume lounge space with light-weight triangulated steel trusses supporting a curved ceiling. The first floor gallery to the lounge was supported on a single central column. The underside of the gallery had a carefully molded edge. A light staircase with 'floating' treads was supported on a single central stringer with a light triangulated metal balustrade. The lounge was provided with an expansive north facing curtain wall. Some of the internal spaces of the house were prominently expressed as projecting bays on the external facade. The floor of the Main Bedroom balcony had glass blocks which provided diffuse light to the study below. A curvilinear swimming pool was constructed on the east side of the house in close proximity to the curtain wall of the lounge. The pool was detailed with a slender reinforced concrete shell, the upper vertical walls of which were raised above ground level. The floor of the pool sloped steeply from the base of the vertical walls towards the mid-line of the pool. A curved screen wall provided privacy to the pool area and a metal cat ladder gave easy access into the pool. A low and a high spring-board were also provided - the latter supported on a slender column. The Zapletals left Kenya in 1960 and emigrated to Canada (followed by Australia). The house was let by the Zapletals (and subsequently sold) to Dr Ian Copley, a Medical doctor with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in Nairobi. The monthly rent was slightly more than the RAMC were prepared to pay, so the difference was managed by the Zapletal's renting the swimming pool directly to Dr. Copley. After leaving Kenya in 1965, the Copleys initially let the house to the First Secretary of the Israeli Embassy. When the Kenyan Government made it difficult to remit the rent to South Africa or to the United Kingdom, the house was sold to to Cooper Motors, the VW agents in Nairobi. Payment for the house was made via Cooper Motors purchasing a light plane from one of their subsidiary companies, Wilken Aviation, and presenting the plane to Dr. Copley in lieu of payment. Dr Copley flew the plane down to Durban and thereby successfully moved the proceeds of the sale to South Africa. By 2015 the residential suburb surrounding Wood Garden Road has been transformed from a series of large single houses on expansive landscaped erven, to a densely developed residential suburb. It has not been established whether the Zapletal house survives intact within this redefined suburban context. Post-Script: Dr. and Mrs. Copley very much enjoyed living in the Zapletal house. When they left Kenya in 1965, and while on the ship to Durban, Dr. Copley drew up the plan of the house from memory. Four years later they decided to build a new house in South Africa, based on the Zapletal house - House Copley. Dr Copley commissioned the Natal Drawing Office of 9 Crompton St., Pinetown to draw up the submission drawings. The couple had purchased a large 1.75 Ha view site in Westville, Durban. The lay-out of the Westville house was closely based on that of Nairobi house, but the dimensions were apparently slightly larger and some of the Zapletal's design details were not carried through. Description based on information and photographs provided by Dr Ian Copley (2015) - adapted and extended by William MARTINSON. |