Devilliers du Toit Architects is behind the design of a functional classic-meets-contemporary family home in Pretoria’s Southdowns Estate.

The homeowner, who runs a fresh produce business, wanted a three-bedroom farm-style home with modern accents, including an open-plan living space and a separate guest cottage.

“The style of the house is slightly more traditional, evoking the unembellished Victorian residences built in the Highveld around the turn of the century,” says Devilliers. “Contemporary design elements include exposed steelwork on the patio and balcony, as well as timber screens for privacy.”

The design is inspired, in part, by the location itself. The house is bordered on both sides by cow pastures with views across the estate. “To make the most of the location I placed the house and the cottage parallel to each other to create a courtyard and to ensure proper solar exposure for all of the rooms,” says Devilliers.

The family, who actively participated in the design process, wanted their home to have a relaxed atmosphere, something which can be felt throughout the space, from the open-plan dining area to the entertainment area on the patio. The neutral colour palette features pops of colour in the form of scatters and artworks, while a combination of carefully selected lighting and plush rugs has been used to add a sense of warmth to the pigmented screed and engineered timber floors.

To see more of Devilliers’ projects, visit devilliersdutoit.com.

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In an estate known for its variety of farmhouse-style dwellings, one house consciously holds back, subtracting instead of adding and, in so doing, stands apart.

Simplicity – especially in design – has become a coveted quality, often accompanied by clean lines and a measure of restraint. The no-frills aesthetic has powerful effects on the psyche, where the lack of visual chaos brings calm. In Pretoria, the home of Lloyd and Annemarie Christie steers clear of residential estate uniformity and stands out, striking in its simplicity.

Navigating my way through tree-lined streets to the Christies’ house, I immediately spot it from the street corner. Its understated facade is unmissable, speaking louder than any bells-and-whistles abode ever could. The entire gable end, from the ground to the roofline, is clad in horizontal timber slats, so neither the garage nor the windows above are detectable until they’re opened. The timber announces the home’s architectural language from the outset. “If you were to remove it, you’d see the random placement of the windows, which at night throw their light through the slats,” says architect Carl Jacobsz of C76 Architecture.

Seeking a wholesome environment that would allow their two daughters, Chloë-Ann (7) and Milla (4), freedom to play, the Christies bought the vacant plot of land and entrusted their architect friend Carl with the task of designing their home. “We were adamant about clean lines, but left it to Carl to plan the building envelope within the constraints presented by the stand,” says Lloyd, referring to the plot’s challenging diamond-like shape.

The house is a double barn, splaying out in a V-shape with a grassed courtyard garden in the middle. Taking their cue from the stand, the two barns hug its western and eastern boundaries, maximising on live able square metreage and affording the family a garden with multiple connections to the house. Carl describes it as “living into the courtyard”, an aspect that brings with it privacy from outside eyes.

The footprint also opens up the barns to the northerly view of the estate’s agricultural corridor, currently a crop of corn that begins just beyond the low garden fence. Come winter time, the corn field will be superseded by lucerne and grazing cows.

In the double-storey western barn, reserved for private living areas, Carl has created a loft above each of the girls’ bedrooms. In the eastern barn, Lloyd, an attorney, has the study of his dreams with wall-to-wall bookshelves, as well as a gym and an underground cellar that peers into the swimming pool through a window.

Rough brickwork makes up the bulk of the barns, with corrugated sheeting, concrete floors and timber slats completing the inventory. It is the timber, however, that takes centre stage; 3,3 km of sustainably sourced modified rhinowood is used as shading in movable screens, as security in large lockable shutters, and as cladding to add an element of lightness to the structure.

“Grounded architecture is what appeals to me; the simpler the better,” says Carl, referencing his childhood on an Eastern Free State farm where purpose built farm buildings made an indelible impression.

As someone who declares an aversion to slick architecture, Carl has brought warmth to the Christies’ home through conscious design choices. “What sets apart good architecture from that which is not is atmosphere, and you achieve that with materials and with time,” he says. “That’s my unicorn; I chase it project by project.”

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A vacant stand alongside this family’s home was transformed into a recreation hub with a lap pool, a tennis court and even a clubhouse that everyone in the community gets to enjoy.

Throughout the year we dream about the perfect summer holiday spot, a place where you can escape from your daily chores, unwind and have fun with the kids all day long… But why play once a year when you can do so all year round?

This was the question that came up over dinner one evening when the vacant stand next to a sporty family’s home in Southdowns came onto the market. Dreams of expanding their garden with a tennis court and lap pool immediately came to mind, but the project soon evolved in response to the estate’s architectural guidelines to include plans for a clubhouse.

To turn their vision into reality, the family looked to architects Johan Wentzel and Grete van As of W Design Architecture Studio (WDAS) for guidance. The family are long-time admirers of their work: “We love how they’re always bringing something fresh and funky to their designs, and with this project we wanted to push the boundaries of convention.”

From the outset, this is what the architects did. “We decided to turn the design process on its head by making the building an extension of the outside instead of the other way round,” says Johan. An unobtrusive concrete-and-steel structure makes way for full-height glazing – windows that stack away completely, allowing inside and outside to interconnect seamlessly.

Taking their cue from the family’s original concept, the architects wanted to make sure the design chimed in with the fun-and-games theme. An unmistakable element of playfulness underlies the meticulous detailing of the design. “It was such a wonderful opportunity to experiment with different materials, textures and colours in unexpected combinations,” says Johan.

The unusual choice of black steel for the built-in kitchen table and bathroom vanity top are particularly eye-catching. It reinforces the industrial barn-style architecture, and a graffiti wall pays tongue-in-cheek homage to the tagging found at public play areas. Johan says they had the graffiti artist jump over the wall at night to do the artwork.

The family attributes the success of the project to the excellent team that made it all happen, including contractor Erik Pronk of CPM Projects and landscaper Mia Marsay, owner of Over the Garden Wall. “We had so much fun together that we were almost sad to see the end of it,” they say.

All bantering aside, the architects are serious about future-proofing any building they design. Says Johan, “We strongly believe our designs should be able to adapt and grow along with the changing needs of our clients.”

The family enjoys having a separate space to entertain family and friends, and members of the local community are reaping the benefits too. Various activities, including drama classes and pop-up craft shops, are hosted in the downstairs studio.

“The building can easily be converted into a small home,” says Johan. It would make the perfect stepping stone for the kids when they are ready to move out of the nest but still want to be close enough to enjoy Mom’s cooking.

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Nurturing a young family in a custom-built space that’s safe, beautiful and mindful of its environmental impact is a dream for many. For Arno and Carla Botha, architect Friedrich Strey made their dream come true.

Bright, sunny days in Southdowns, an exclusive suburb east of Pretoria, are magical. Dappled light plays through leafy silver birch trees, the wind rustles through lavish green urban mielie fields and, if you listen closely, you can hear cows mooing under a gin-clear blue sky. This is life as it should be. Quiet. Peaceful. Serene. And the inspiration behind space creator Friedrich Strey’s light-living home, which he designed and built in 2011/2 for Carla and Arno Botha and their two little boys.

From the road, the Bothas’ cement-washed brick house strikes you as super-chic yet totally unassuming, and it’s been designed that way. Says Friedrich: “Our brief was to build a home filled with a feeling of openness that promoted easy living for a growing young family. At the same time the Bothas wanted their home to be utterly private yet exquisitely multifunctional, and for it to have as little impact on the environment as possible.”

The house sits confidently on its stand with grand double-volume living spaces. It is U-shaped, with a south wing that comprises the lounge and open-plan kitchen and dining area, and a north wing that comprises the bedrooms and bathrooms. The wings are integrated via a link that currently houses a comfortable seating area, overlooking a central courtyard pool and grassy garden where a giant stinkwood tree provides a climbing area for the boys. The courtyard-facing walls of the south wing and link slide and fold away to create an extended inside/outside living space. The link not only joins the two wings but also blocks the late-afternoon sun and ensures privacy and security from the street.

Friedrich, who has a passion for yachting, has implemented many sustainable principles used on yachts in buildings he has designed over the past 17 years. He drew on his experience to ensure the space was functional and the materials used were the best possible choices for the environment.

“The Bothas love the feel that natural and recycled materials give to the house,” says Friedrich. “We used natural stone, wood and upcycled parquet flooring, and left concrete details like the fireplaces in their raw state. There’s no substitute for natural light, so we’ve played on that quite a bit, from illumination to the role it plays in heating and cooling the house. There’s double glazing and LED lighting throughout, and a 1 000ℓ solar-heated water tank provides for the family’s needs.

“The house is built on a raft foundation, as the area is subject to sinkholes. The Modulo system we used for this type of foundation allowed for the entire floor to be insulated.”

Carla’s interior design touch is evident throughout. The decor is minimalist, with a leaning towards accent pieces that are hand-made in materials left raw – including well-loved wooden furniture, copper and brass touches, bright art pieces, nguni-hide rugs and soft suede couches.

There’s absolutely no clutter. It’s hard to imagine that two small boys live here until you see a little red bicycle propped up against a wall, a frayed and knotted climbing rope hanging from a tree, or three primary-coloured plastic balls nestled in the grass. To the untrained eye, they look like artfully placed props. But to those of us who know, these things are the stuff of life. And that’s the most important thing. 

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