WORDS Robyn Alexander / Bureaux PRODUCTION Sven Alberding / Bureaux PHOTOS Greg Cox / Bureaux

We wanted to feel as if we were on holiday at home,” says Nina Stewart of her and husband Alastair’s new home. Situated on the lush yet temperate Garden Route, Plettenberg Bay’s pristine beaches and a nature reserve in close proximity are among the attractions that have made living here with their daughter Chloe – and at various times of the year, Nina’s parents too – a pleasure.

However, the beautiful surroundings aren’t the primary reason why Nina and her family spend most of their time at home. Rather, it’s down to the fact that their house was conceptualised from the start to perfectly suit their needs. Planning a move to Plett from Johannesburg in search of a more laid-back lifestyle, the Stewarts purchased a plot of land shortly before their permanent relocation. The topographical attractions included pleasant views and, even more so for the family, a location alongside a permanent green belt.

Via locally based friends, the Stewarts had previously encountered the work of architect Guillaume Pienaar, and having met him soon after relocating to Plett in December 2021, they quickly decided he was the right person to design their new home. Guillaume’s way of working is “more left field, and we liked that”, says Nina. “We met and brainstormed together a lot. Guillaume takes his time” – and his attention to the design of every detail, from the structural essentials to the skirtings, meant that his painstaking process suited the Stewarts, who were themselves very involved in almost every element.

Guillaume also thrives when working collaboratively with his clients, and vividly recalls Alastair’s insistence that his essential work-from-home area include “a space where he could build Lego – he has a huge collection. This made for a unique brief!” Among the more general design requirements from Nina and Alastair was that the house be “conceptualised for cohabiting” with her parents, whose private wing allows them to be completely independent and self-sufficient. “We wanted them to be able to braai and not invite us if they didn’t want to,” says Nina. She’d also long been fascinated by mid-century and particularly 1970s design, and asked for “a 1970s barn” that had a considered relationship with the surrounding landscape.

Guillaume’s final design consisted of a trio of linked, barn-inspired structures with a facade in bagged white brick, topped by “steeply pitched roofs in which the acute roof lines are very dominant”, he says. The creation of these three elements that combine to form the dwelling had its origins partly in the aesthetic and occupational parts of the brief from the Stewarts (one of the three sections contains Nina’s parents’ living spaces, for example), but it was also necessitated by the physical characteristics of the site.

“The main challenge was difficult soil conditions,” Guillaume explains. “There’s a lot of clay here, and it’s an ‘aggressive’ clay – in other words, it moves a lot.” Knowing that the house was definitely going to shift on its foundations at some point led him to consult extensively with a structural engineer from the start, and create the linked design to cope with this. The linkages between the three “barns” are all created from timber frames and lined with timber, and it has all been designed in such a way that “if the building moves, it does so in the links”, he says. This simple yet smart solution means that even substantial movement will result in a need for only relatively low-cost repairs.

The linking short passageways also make for excellent transition elements. Closely confined transitions make the areas into which they open feel more visually arresting and spacious than they already are – and there is certainly plenty to interest the eye. Sections of the walls are clad in beautiful wooden panelling by local joinery specialists Kia-Ora, and Guillaume designed high ceilings and angularly shaped spaces to fit, puzzle-like, all the rooms within the barns. Overall, the result is a set of interiors that feel both expansive – even though they are not enormously large – and cosy.

This atmosphere of welcome and intimacy is enhanced by further textural interest, including poured terrazzo floors, brise-soleil elements, handmade ceramic tiles, and furnishings that include pieces clad in bouclé fabrics. The interior finishes were “a big collaboration with Nina”, says Guillaume, and were “inspired by her ideas”. Deep autumnal shades prevail, and the furniture includes original mid-century items sourced from vintage specialists Modernist during the Stewarts’ Johannesburg days, as well as pieces by contemporary furniture and design company Mezzanine, also based in Joburg.

The final aspect of the home is its relationship with the outdoors and the exterior living spaces that can, in Plett’s mild climate, be used almost year-round. From the start, Nina and Alastair wanted to bring in the natural surroundings and indigenous vegetation, and ensure that it seemed as if the house was “emerging out of the fynbos, with wild and natural planting”. The design team worked with plant specialists, including local plantsman Charles Reitz, and the resulting garden is already lush. An essential shaded outdoor dining space and adjacent barbecue form part of a protected courtyard that also features a round plunge pool.

Having moved into their new home in November 2023, the Stewarts are hugely enjoying their space. “I spend 90% of my time at home,” says Nina, adding that one of her favourite spaces in this stylish yet cocooning house is the kitchen’s snug, intimate breakfast nook, situated alongside an east-facing picture window. “Watching the sunrise here in winter combines an amazing view with soft autumnal colours. It’s magical.” | @pinardarchitecture

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The post Plettenberg Bay House appeared first on Visi.

COMPILED BY Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Dook; Mads Morgensen; Alan Jensen; Jack Lovel & Robert Frith; Adam Letch; Kyle Morland; Elsa Young; Lar Glutz/Bureaux

From a Buffelsbaai beachside escape to an architecturally bold Dullstroom weekend retreat, homes stand as testaments to their material: concrete. These local and international homes from the VISI Archives highlight the enduring appeal of concrete in contemporary design.

Buffelsbaai Home

Family holiday homes evoke images of blissful summer days filled with nothing but hours spent on the beach and sipping homemade (somewhat punchy) lemonade to keep cool. And this Buffelsbaai beachside gem most certainly lives up to that billing, ticking all the boxes for what’s required to ensure that the Ferreiras’ getaways are always restful, invigorating and, quite simply, a holiday.

An existing structure was demolished on this third-generation property to make way for a new home for the family. Richly reflective of the opportunities and constraints of the landscape, the design of the house was inspired by the sea and the milkwood forest that surrounds it.

As lead architect Guillaume Pienaar of Pinard Architecture says, the house skilfully combines “natural materials, colours and textures: natural timber, off-shutter concrete, rope and very rough-textured plaster that, over time, will disappear into the milkwood forest and fade in colour”, with an eye-catching structural design that will remain relevant and inspiring for many more generations.

Read the full story on this Buffelsbaai home.

Westcliff Ridge Home

It’s rare in this country that homeowners inherit a building of distinct architectural heritage, especially in a city as young as Johannesburg. So when husband and wife Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, of leading architecture studio Silvio Rech & Lesley Carstens Adventure Architecture, spied the late-1950s house at the dead-end of their lane in Westcliff’s uppermost reaches, they kept a beady eye on its movements.

“What I liked about it is that it’s so simple… We’ve been over-cluttering everything,” remarks Silvio. Still, dense overgrowth concealed the view entirely, and there were those who advised the couple to simply knock it down. Architecture devotees, however, favoured retaining its roots as an American Bungalow, and when they discovered that there was, in fact, a view beyond the trees, they did what any architect would do: they respected the building’s heritage.

Read the full story on the Westcliff Ridge Home.

Chilean House

It’s a house, but only in the broadest definition of the term, says co-owner Sofia von Ellrichshausen of this structure in the foothills of the Andes mountains in central Chile. She and fellow architect and artist Mauricio Pezo have been sharing their academic and artistic lives for the past two decades, and together head up the internationally renowned art and architecture studio Pezo von Ellrichshausen.

The couple built their new home in a secluded area surrounded by forest and freshwater channelled through small streams that come down from the mountains. Impressively big, it manages not to impose on its surroundings. “We call it a house, and it is our private home – but we also consider it a cultural centre, as it is meant for more than domestic use. It is a place for our creative expression, and ideally, it will live on beyond our lifetime to become a creative space for other humanist and creative people,” says Sofia.

Read the full story on this Chilean Home.

Monaghan Farm House

This house in Monaghan Farm in Lanseria, on a beautiful spot overlooking a bend in the Jukskei River, began with a bold, Brutalist architectural idea – but the result is an incredibly subtle, sensitive response to its setting. The owners, Wendy and Lukas van Niekerk wanted a home made entirely of steel and raw, exposed concrete, and this spectacular plot of land offered them the chance to build from scratch. Lukas, an engineer, is a huge fan of the work of 20th-century Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, who is famous for his sensitive use of concrete as well as experiments with concrete and steel – and the Van Niekerks’ architect, Enrico Daffonchio, went to school in Scarpa’s hometown of Venice in Italy. The fates had aligned.

Despite what Enrico refers to as its “strong architectural language”, the house they designed together is nestled into the landscape and, when viewed from higher up the hill, is practically invisible (helped by the green roofs planted with endemic grasses to recreate the landscape it’s built on). It is, quite literally, sunken into the landscape to keep its presence unobtrusive.

You descend from street level to the front door via steps that lead to a path through a courtyard. The bold simplicity of the forms – the slim, straight lines of the roof and overhangs – belie the complexity of the way the house is knitted into its setting, with courtyards and “green fingers” all around bringing the landscape and vegetation up to and between the rooms.

Read the full story on the Monaghan Farm House.

Dullstroom Weekend Home

There’s a defining principle in modern architecture called “truth to materials”. Its aim is to celebrate the intrinsic qualities of a material without corruption, laying bare character and construction. The Fall, a week­end home outside Dullstroom, pays homage to this notion with its audacious use of concrete and its bare­bones appeal.

“A shelter that sits crouched, backed up against the steep hill,” is how architect Paul Oosthuizen describes it. He says “shelter” as a throwback to his time spent studying the site, in awe of the thunderous water crashing into the gorge. The house was to be a refuge in direct conversation with the waterfall. “The hexahedron formation of the rock, eroded with soft edges, became a compelling navigator. I extruded these shapes out of the land; strung together like a spine, they became alive.”

“I did a double take when Paul showed us his initial drawings,” says owner Anthony Hare. He and his wife Robyn have since fallen in love with the house, which has stirred mixed reactions in the Dullstroom community. The farm has been in Anthony’s family since the 1960s and is now planted with 3 hectares of cherries. “I grew up here as a young boy on fishing trips,” he recalls nostalgically. His yearn­ing to create something exceptional on the same land has nagged for years

Read the full story on this Dullstroom weekend home.

Maastricht Loft

Create a comfortable family loft” was the brief given to Dax and Joyce Roll of Nicemakers. At least, that was the easy part of it; the rest requested “a home where furniture designer Jean Prouvé meets interior designer Joseph Dirand; where Bauhaus architecture meets the glamour of the Chrysler Building; where interiors specialists Roman and Williams meet the series Mad Men; and where minimal architect Peter Zumthor meets The Wolf of Wall Street’s Jordan Belfort”. It must’ve made for an interesting mood board for the Amsterdam- based interior design studio – but in their favour was a portfolio of successfully completed projects that includes a city-centre canal house, a country farmhouse, a 19th-century mansion, a 1960s bungalow, and the re-styling of De L’Europe hotel in Amsterdam.

The starting point for this latest project was a concrete loft in the south of the Netherlands, with a roof terrace providing great views of Maastricht’s city centre. “Every new project starts with freedom – freedom of thought and inspiration – and a story or an atmosphere,” says Dax. “That is our approach – and luckily in this instance, given their briefing, also that of our clients.” Their clients were a couple who had grown up in Maastricht. The building, originally designed as living space for local nurses – each window belonged to a single room furnished with a simple bed, desk and wardrobe – was later also used as office space. When it was first put on the market, the couple moved quickly, buying one of the apartments on the ninth floor and both apartments on the 10th floor. Along with this combination came a roof terrace with 360-degree panoramic views and, as an extra, a secret observatory/sky lounge above that.

Read the full story on this Maastricht loft.

Roscommon House

The clients wanted a family home with “a strong sense of belonging” that would age with grace, remaining relevant and highly versatile through all stages of life. To realise this brief, Neil looked to the history of the site’s suburb for direction – the town’s planning, nearby architecture and the ideals of the original subdivision.

Simplistic in form, the house spans a singular floor, with the exterior boasting a careful contrast of concrete blocks – some bold and square, others sculpted into elongated oval shapes that add an organic feel to the rawness. Materials chosen for their ability to age like family heirlooms dominate the space in an arresting juxtaposition of wood, marble, terrazzo, velvet, timber and glass. Outdoor furniture includes the Basket chair, designed by Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel and the Boma collection, designed by Rodolfo Dordoni, both created for international outdoor furniture brand Kettal.

Read the full story on the Roscommon House.

Lanseria Eco-estate Home

The site, sun and climate were integral to the design process and we drew inspiration from these elements,” says Enrico Daffonchio, who together with Leigh Maurtin designed the home with extensive input from the owners Lukas and Wendy van Niekerk.

The team were very familiar with the ecological guidelines of the estate as Daffonchio Architects had helped draft them. All of the properties are single storey, cut into the ground to minimise the impact on the horizon: The house is sunk to account for the natural ground level and slope of the estate, so each property has a view over the one in front of them.

This home, which is designed as a set of pavilions with deep overhangs, separated by a series of courtyards and green fingers that act as sheltered outdoor living spaces, is further camouflaged from its neighbours thanks to its roof gardens. The entire footprint is covered in native vegetation so that the boundary between the house and surrounding grasslands is almost indiscernible from above.

Read the full story on this Lanseria eco-estate home.

Paarl House

You’d be forgiven for inferring that the domed column that punctuates Pine Concrete House pays poetic tribute to Paarl Rock, the gigantic granite outcrop looming in its background. “You’ll have to talk to my dad about the metaphors of this house,” says a smiling Johannes Berry, who co-founded Brussels-based architectural firm Sugiberry with his wife Mayu Takasugi in 2016.

Fortuitous as the architectural echo is, the concrete-and-wood residence’s design was informed by a set of logical principles that Johannes and Mayu work according to,rather than any visual reference.“We like to consider the potential in what already exists,” he explains. In the case of Pine Concrete House, what existed was the double-storey home of Johannes’s parents, Roland and Elmine. “The initial brief from them was to build a double garage – but like most projects, it grew,” says Johannes. “They’re getting older, and because of the size of their house, we proposed renovating it so it could ultimately be split into three self-contained parts – a top half, a bottom half and an extension – so they’d still be able to live there, but rent out the two other spaces.”

Although Johannes and Mayu initially had wood and canvas in mind as the predominant building materials for the extension, the area of land they had earmarked needed to be excavated. “It’s a bit of an engineering feat to build with wood underground because of the moisture, and we didn’t want to focus on technical statements,” says Mayu. “The decision to build with concrete is really what started the design. We asked: what is concrete? How do you make concrete? Okay, you need formwork. What is formwork? If you use wood to make formwork, what happens to it afterwards? Can you not reuse it? It’s a logic of being considerate and aware of things.”

Read the full story on this Paarl House.

Llandudno Home

There are 360 degrees. Why stick to one?” said the late architect Zaha Hadid – and this philosophy could well describe Mica and Marcel Angel’s Llandudno home. At its entrance, concrete slabs suspended over a body of water deliver you to a pair of angular, concrete planes that defy gravity as they slant casually skywards. The entrance is straddled by two linear concrete boxes, one of which is home to an outsized sculptural staircase that runs the full height of the double-volume space. It’s an astonishing first impression.

But then this home is designed to marry not just the disparate aesthetic predilections of its owners – an aspiring clinical psychologist and a racing driver – but also the splendour of its setting. Set on giant granite boulders between Llandudno and Sandy Bay, it was designed by M&B Architects’ Christo Botha in response to its spectacular surrounds. United by a passion for fast cars – and having worked together previously on commercial projects – Christo had a good idea of Marcel’s love for contemporary, modern architecture. However, his challenge lay in incorporating that with Mica’s preference for a more sculptural, eclectic, lived-in feel, as well as her brief for a space that could accommodate the five children (from 28 to 11 years old) they share between them. And of course, their three dogs, Sishi, Valentino and Paris.

Read the full story on this Llandudno home.

Salt Rock Home

It’s a great house to wake up in every morning, and a great house to dwell in,” says interior designer and artist Lisa Twyman of her home. “It makes you feel free, positive, motivated, excited.”

Lisa and husband Will Haynes fell in love with the plot situated in Salt Rock, on the Indian Ocean coastline north of Durban, because of its geography – so much so that the build became very much about the garden. “We did not want to impose on it or mess up the flow of it too much,” she says. “During the first few years that we lived here, any extra budget was spent on the garden and planting.”

The key principle for Lisa and Will was that the house needed to become a part of the landscape. This meant including elements such as a ground-floor living area that opens up completely to the outdoors, allowing the spaces to be opened or enclosed as required. This “blurred boundary” – as Lisa describes it – between interior and exterior is further enhanced by the fully open-plan nature of the living, dining and kitchen spaces, as well as the application of simple, low-maintenance materials such as unadorned off-shutter concrete, and the balau wood used for cladding and screening where necessary.

Read the full story on this Salt Rock home.

Contemporary Pretoria Home

Ever since they were a newlywed couple, Albert and Adéle Nieuwenhuys had been dreaming up a vision for their perfect home – a space with a sense of openness enveloped in raw concrete, steel and glass with generous expanses of double volume.

They found the perfect site in the heart of Pretoria – the first step to realising their dream – with the most incredible views across the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve. But it wasn’t until they met with architect André Eksteen from Earthworld Architects that they knew their vision would finally become reality. “At Earthworld Architects we believe that the architect’s primary role is that of mediator between people and the landscape they live in,” says André. “We were therefore incredibly excited by the owners’ challenging brief for this unique site, because we knew from the start it would require pushing creative boundaries.”

True to his word, the main design concept for the house is a complete contradiction in terms. “I wanted to preserve the site’s intimate connection with the nature reserve by designing the house as an airy, lightweight shelter that simply floats over the indigenous landscape – with the structure being nothing more than a protective shell that can adapt from day to day according to the needs of the family,” André explains.

Read the full story on this contemporary Pretoria home.

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The post 12 Concrete Homes Redefining Modern Living appeared first on Visi.

Cleverly constructed thresholds between a tiered garden and the interior spaces mean this Mid-century-inspired family home manages the trick of being both spacious and cosy.

Looks can be deceiving. At first glance, this creatively terraced home may appear small – but a stroll through the property reveals both space and a sense of intimacy, based around the focal point of the garden.

Architect Guillaume Pienaar’s brief may have also appeared relatively simple: to build a cost-effective home for a family of three, including an option to work from home. Accomplishing it was a little more complex. “We wanted to create a family home that was unique, connected to the outdoors, sustainably built, and within our rather modest budget,” explain homeowners Anthea and Conrad Buys. “It was important for the house to be equipped for both of us to work from home, but also to maintain separation between work and life.” Another requirement was the ability to host visitors from Joburg (where Anthea and Conrad used to live) while giving them privacy and space.

READ MORE: Buffelsbaai Home

Strongly guided by Guillaume, they went with an early Mid-century Modern aesthetic in both architecture and design, with a focus on the thresholds between the inside and outdoors. Drawing inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1939 Fallingwater design, the home embraces the idea of connecting the natural garden to the interior spaces. “The terraced garden to the north is the main focus of the house, and always present,” says Guillaume. “Every space lives out onto it, but at a different level, creating unique views and perspectives. Openings in the building’s facade to the east south and west are left to the absolute minimum, allowing cross-ventilation and the required morning sun in the main bedroom, and late-afternoon winter sun in the kitchen.”

Guillaume got creative with materials, exaggerating textures such as thick, rough plaster and double-layer concrete on the outer walls, the large- profile fibre cement corrugated roof, and larger-than-life eaves and bargeboard details. MDF cladding on interior walls and ceilings is a statement, and the perfect canvas for the family’s extensive collection of local art. The MDF also creates an amazingly cosy atmosphere during chilly winter months, and lends the house its unique geometric detailing. “It feels spacious and cosy at the same time – and from the time you enter the front door, the narrative is a series of transitions from more constricted areas to more open areas,” says Anthea.

READ MORE: Hemel-en-Aarde Holiday Home

For open-plan living at this scale, Guillaume found it important to clearly define each section and individual space with its own function. He achieved this by extending the garden terrace wall into the interior of the home, dividing the living and dining/ kitchen spaces into two different levels with a single sloping ceiling serving to unify them, and placing a combined server/ fridge between the two.

The idea was to create separation between the private sleeping spaces and shared living areas, and to connect the kitchen and living room without creating a run-of-the-mill open-plan design. “We spend a lot of time in the kitchen,” says Anthea, “so it was important to us to make this an area where we – and our guests – would be able to spend that time comfortably.” The result is a creative space that pays homage to one of the architectural greats through form following function, while being uniquely theirs.

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The post Mid-Century-Inspired Plettenberg Bay Home appeared first on Visi.

WORDS Zelia Michaels Shangase PRODUCTION Annemarie Meintjes PHOTOS Dook

Family holiday homes evoke images of blissful summer days filled with nothing but hours spent on the beach and sipping homemade (somewhat punchy) lemonade to keep cool. And this Buffelsbaai beachside gem most certainly lives up to that billing, ticking all the boxes for what’s required to ensure that the Ferreiras’ getaways are always restful, invigorating and, quite simply, a holiday.

An existing structure was demolished on this third-generation property to make way for a new home for the family. Richly reflective of the opportunities and constraints of the landscape, the design of the house was inspired by the sea and the milkwood forest that surrounds it.

As lead architect Guillaume Pienaar of Pinard Architecture says, the house skilfully combines “natural materials, colours and textures: natural timber, off-shutter concrete, rope and very rough-textured plaster that, over time, will disappear into the milkwood forest and fade in colour”, with an eye-catching structural design that will remain relevant and inspiring for many more generations.

The evocative natural history of milkwood forests in the area was key to the design decision to steer away from a typical “beachfront view” placement, and instead opt to protect and support the rehabilitation of the indigenous vegetation.

Working with horticulturalist Nanna Joubert, the project team created what will soon be a natural barrier of privacy as the house disappears behind the lush flora.

As the property is just 30 metres from the beach, the smell and sound of the ocean are constant. This sensory dimension led to the design feature that keeps you constantly aware of the presence of the water in every corner of the house: two concrete “ears” act as receptacles for sea breezes, ocean sounds, morning light – and extraordinary views. The fact that the ocean is so close to the house is further amplified by the selection of features reminiscent of this, including the mosaic tiles used on the floors throughout, and the timber rail door handles that “accommodate the ever-present damp towels and swimming costumes found at beach holiday homes”, says Guillaume.

A holiday home also needs to be low-maintenance, which guided the thinking behind the furniture and decor. “Simple and clean” is what Guillaume and his clients, homeowners Daan and Engela Ferreira, were going for in their choice of colours and materials. All the furniture was designed to be hassle-free, with typical holiday activities in mind.

Think a made-for-lounging sofa with interchangeable pieces that are just as useful for seating as they are for reclining to read or snooze; and a round table perfectly placed for board games, puzzle building and other such pastimes. In collaboration with a local manufacturer, Pinard Architecture designed and made all the furniture other than a few plastic chairs. “We love to collaborate with local manufacturers such as Fechters, who have been in Knysna since 1936,” says Guillaume.

Although it has five bedrooms, this home is built on a fairly modest scale, with the architectural team having successfully blended it into the low-key holiday spot of Buffelsbaai, a small village close to Knysna, where it is located. In spite of this, the house sports plenty of functional design features. The angled “bay window” at the front of the building creates a cosy nook that fills with sunlight in winter through the skylight on its north side, but also has a 180-degree view, making it an ideal conversation or reading spot on rainy days. And the central open courtyard is the perfect place in which to shelter from the southeaster, ensuring that braai-and-chill time is never spoilt by the wind.

Key to the design and innovation of this home is the precise construction of it, which the project team agree would not have been possible without the amazing work done by Steiger Construction. Cleverly combining elements of sun, sky, forest and water, this is a holiday home that appeals to all the senses, generating a deep and instant yearning for carefree summer days.

Looking for more beachfront retreats? Take a look at this modern beach house in Yzerfontein.

The post Buffelsbaai Home appeared first on Visi.

Modernist principles and a reverence for the site have ensured that this monolithic holiday home in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley is integrated in the landscape.

Turning off the Hemel-en-Aarde Road, it’s a bumpy, winding assent to this unconventional house overlooking the valley and Fernkloof Nature Reserve. It appears all of a sudden on the rise above you. Well, its narrowest side does. Around another bend and you approach it from its side elevation and glimpse its low horizontal footprint. Then you’re right up against the monolithic facade as you make the last turn into the driveway.

Knysna-based architect Guillaume Pienaar of Pinard Architecture was tasked with building a holiday home for an active family of five in a disused quarry – a scar on the otherwise untouched fynbos landscape that had been zoned for a single dwelling. With an open brief from the international owners for a simple home that maximised the position and minimised the impact on the surroundings, visually and ecologically, the first stage was to find the orientation.

To experience it in 360 degrees throughout the day, Guillaume decided to camp on-site. He took walks with a neighbour who knows the area and its flora, fauna and frequent fires. “In this natural setting, we wanted to keep the visual impact towards the valley floor to an absolute minimum; and we managed to do this by not only pushing the building away from the valley rim but also orientating it to face the other way, leaving only the short side visible from below.

READ MORE: Mid-century-inspired Plettenberg Bay Home Designed by Pinard Architecture

The four bedrooms and main open-plan living and dining area all make the most of the east-to-west orientation, with large windows to track the passage of the sun and provide an abundance of natural light.

Guillaume identified the natural mound as the perfect position to tuck the structure into, with the first-floor bedrooms sticking out above it. The characteristics of the site determined the aesthetic: Dark brick cladding blends in with the landscape, and a bright, light interior echoes the white sand of the quarry.

“I believe in design that responds to the site and its conditions,” says Guillaume of his functional approach to setbacks and apertures. The deep reveals, for example, allow the sun to penetrate deep into the interior during winter, whereas in summer they prevent the harsh sun from entering.

In the brick cladding, Guillaume expresses more of his adherence to the “honesty of materials” philosophy: using the most appropriate building material without hiding or faking its nature. “My clients wanted something light and simple internally, and for the structure to disappear into the landscape,” he says. “I thought of painting the building a dark colour, but had to consider fires and how heat would affect it. In the end, brick just made sense. It’s a beautiful little building block.”

They settled on the rustic Corobrik Cape Stormberg for its colour and rough texture. It’s also from the area, readily available and, perhaps most importantly, it is a robust material. The entire building is clad in this dark clay brick skin, which serves the house thermally, requires no maintenance, blends into the surrounding landscape and, most importantly, protects the structure from veld fires, a frequent occurrence in the area. A set of steel outer doors conceals the wooden front door, so in case of a fire the structure should remain intact.

There may be no frills, but this doesn’t mean there isn’t detail. Not added detail, Guillaume is quick to emphasise, rather unobtrusive accents of the building’s construction. “I wanted to be honest with the structure,” he explains. “With the expansion joints, for example, we turned a brick in a different direction to make a subtle pattern.”

Look a little closer at the interior finishes and you’ll see a complex puzzle of joints and junctures: The skirting becomes the reveal for the window, which becomes the doorway, which becomes the cupboard. Guillaume worked with candidate architect Theodor de Goede on refining the detailing, which was adapted on site with insights from the Quali-Projects construction team and cabinetmaker Herbert Robinson.

Easy to maintain and easy to live in are two hallmarks of a practical holiday house. The deft joinery throughout offers warmth to the intensely minimal interiors and plenty of nooks, as requested by the owners, to store everything out of site. Modernist master Le Corbusier’s famous quote comes to mind: “A house is a machine for living in”.

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