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The floating staircase near the entrance was a feat of engineering by Kosie Combrinck of L-Con Projects. -
The kitchen and light installation were designed by Monique Swanepoel of The House of Envy, and manufactured by Martin Meyer Kitchens. All lighting, including this striking piece, was manufactured by Cool Lighting. The diamond-ground concrete floor was executed by Colour Crete. A three-and-a-half-ton rough-hewn granite block provides contrast for the sleek finishes. -
The kitchen and light installation were designed by Monique Swanepoel of The House of Envy, and manufactured by Martin Meyer Kitchens. All lighting, including this striking piece, was manufactured by Cool Lighting. The diamond-ground concrete floor was executed by Colour Crete. A three-and-a-half-ton rough-hewn granite block provides contrast for the sleek finishes. -
View into the living area from the front foyer. -
Leading to the master bedroom, a dresser with glass doors faces the main bathroom. The rhythm created by the trusses unifies the upstairs spaces. -
The upstairs bedrooms all connect to the platform at the top of the staircase. -
The barn typology of the home is articulated at the connection points of the roof trusses, where stays are celebrated with contrasting black. -
The main en-suite bathroom continues the sleek aesthetic and contrast between blonde timber and black metallic elements prevalent throughout the home. The custom-made black shower glass was installed by Elite Showers. The slit window in the main bedroom, which faces the street, lets in natural light while providing privacy for the study desk. -
In the guest bedroom, the beams have been up-lit for dramatic emphasis, while monochrome finishes maintain a sense of calm and simplicity. -
The indoor entertainment area features a bar, with all carpentry and woodwork installed by Martin Meyer Kitchens. The armchairs are from Tokkara Living. -
Albé’s gym faces northeast to capture the morning light and maximise the views. -
The translucent roof covering over the deck provides a gentle transition between interior and exterior. -
The dark metal and simple, archetypal form of the street-facing façade were inspired by Flemish barns, known for their blackened timber finishes. -
The pivot front door of the home is concealed in the vertical cladding made of Lunawood Thermowood, a thermally modified Nordic pine product. -
The home’s indoor-outdoor transitions can clearly be observed from the lap pool. -
A sunken boma is set against a pocket of greenery with a sculptural tree. -
The transitional space between the foyer and the living area features a courtyard garden.
WORDS Graham Wood IMAGES Dook PRODUCTION Klara van Wyngaarden
Pieter Mathews of Mathews + Associates Architects has designed a distinctive, sculptural Flemish barn-inspired home in an Irene Estate that undoes binary preconceptions to create a bold but layered living experience.
Southdowns Residential Estate in Irene, developed on the grounds of a former a dairy farm, has strict aesthetic guidelines. They require that new houses relate architecturally to the “turn of the century” Irene architectural vernacular at the heart of the estate’s identity. They add, however, that a contemporary interpretation of the guidelines is encouraged.
The order and uniformity of the architecture are part of what attracted businessman Albé Geldenhuys to the estate; but when he commissioned Mathews + Associates Architects led by Pieter Mathews, he encouraged them to “think out of the box”. Pieter immediately noticed the prominence of the site Albé had selected and its importance to the character of the estate. It’s on a circle where three roads converge, demanding a certain architectural presence. At the same time, the design needed to tread a fine line between its public street-facing character and Albé’s privacy.
The stand overlooks a large field with mountain-biking paths and running tracks. Luckily, Albé enjoys the buzz of human activity. “It’s energising,” he says, so he didn’t want to be walled off from the sights and sounds that animate the estate.
Albé has travelled widely, living in countries around the world, and the agricultural character required by the estate put him in mind of the Flemish barns he’d first encountered in the Netherlands in the early 2000s. He and Pieter were keen to try out a contemporary take on the style. Flemish barns, with their blackened timber façades, also provided an “original twist”, as Pieter puts it, on the estate requirements without being “gimmicky”.
The simplified archetypal form of the barn – reinterpreted in contemporary materials, dark metal cladding, light timber screens, raw off-shutter concrete and sleek refined detailing – provides a kind of “sculptural composition for the estate”, says Pieter. He refers to it as a billboard for the “less-is-more” take on the vernacular.
At the same time, he points out that the simplicity of the design is deceptive. On closer inspection, the barn-like structure is an elegant and harmonious resolution of a rich variety of materials and forms. In all, Pieter refers to the approach as “simplexity”, in which simplicity and complexity complement rather than contradict each other.
On the one hand, “Albé’s Barn”, as its owner has dubbed the striking street-facing façade, acts as a screen. On the other, it allows a delicately layered transition from the public realm to the private sanctuary at its heart. From the garage, which functions as a kind of foyer, there are glimpses right through the house, and framed views of the field beyond.
The monolithic façade gives way to courtyards and in-between spaces filled with plants. “It’s a visual spatial progression,” says Pieter. You don’t experience the entrance as a barrier or a sharp transition at all; instead, there’s a sense of permeability. On your way out to the pool and lawn beyond, the pergola and the stoep are like a filtering device, Pieter points out, using Australian architect Glenn Murcutt’s term “feathering” to describe the effect.
The way in which glass sliding doors open onto the green pockets not only lets through cooling breezes, but blurs the distinction between inside and out, once again fuzzing binary conceptions. The sleek architectural lines are offset by bursts of organic greenery. “I’m not the best when it comes to plants, but during lockdown, I seem to have developed green fingers,” says Albé with a laugh.
Inside, the barn is unembellished but stylish, allowing the materials to bring character and warmth to the spaces rather than relying on an abundance of furnishing and objects. It’s “more of what you want, less of what you don’t need”, Pieter says. While the ground floor is characterised by raw concrete finishes, the transition upstairs yields to blonde timber cladding.
A subtle choreography of rhythm and repetition – the exposed rafters, for example – progresses through the upstairs spaces. Even from up here, windows look down on the green pockets, and the trees push upwards towards the sky.
Early-rising Albé’s northeast-facing bedroom welcomes the morning light, while the balcony makes a relaxing vantage point from which to enjoy a glass of wine and take in the animating presence of joggers, bikes and family strollers at the end of the day. The whole place is characterised by a calming clarity without ever becoming stark. The complexity is unfussy, bringing warmth, diversity and humanity to the sense of home.
Looking for more architectural inspiration? Take a look at this family home in Bainskloof.
