As the temperatures starts to climb, we’re looking for ways to keep cool. You don’t have to always reach for the AC remote, however.

Passive cooling is less expensive and kinder to the environment. Developer Gavin Rooke, one of the masterminds of the Saint-Gobain Stand 47 case study house, has some tips for keeping out the heat this summer.

• Insulation isn’t just about warmth in winter. Minimise radiated and conducted heat coming through walls and ceilings by using the correct insulation.
• Use Aerolite insulation on the ceiling to drastically lower heat gain and moderate your indoor temperature.
• In summer, brick walls store heat and radiate warmth long after the sun has set. On cold nights, they absorb the heat you generate inside.
• Use Weber’s External Thermal Insulation Composite System to insulate against direct sunlight.

Take a virtual tour of Stand 47 at stand47.co.za.

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There are certain key criteria to satisfactory unwinding, and a comfortable space that is both quiet and calming is one of the most significant of these.

Built with innovative materials, Stand 47, Saint-Gobain’s case study home in Lanseria, is a perfect example of such an ideal environment for everyday relaxation. Using a combination of passive design and high-tech materials, Stand 47 manages the internal temperature with a fluctuation of only 3 °C, even in extreme weather, with the outside temperature fluctuating by 17 °C. Similarly, the combination of modern interiors and warm materials such as wood and wool creates a sense of modern spaciousness that is familiar and comfortable.

Nadine Theron, a multimedia journalist at Netwerk24, experienced this ideal environment for herself when she spent the night at Stand 47 as a Winter Rest Pilot. “I loved how I always felt at ease and relaxed in the open space. My penchant for minimalist spaces means a room can often feel cold and empty, but the atmosphere at Stand 47 is cheery.”

Saint-Gobain produces innovative construction materials for better homes – homes that make their residents feel better, healthier and more comfortable, and that are kinder to the environment than conventional buildings.

Not satisfied by making this claim without tangible proof, Saint-Gobain built Stand 47 using these materials so others could experience this improved home for themselves. The result? A home that offers a host of benefits to your sense of wellbeing, not least of all the ability to relax.

Apply to test the Saint-Gobain Stand 47 house for yourself at stand47.co.za.

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Whether you are planning a complete re-build of your house, a minor renovation or simply want a no-mess, no-fuss solution, there are plenty of options to choose from. Here are five tips from Saint-Gobain on how best to insulate your home.

1. Insulate Your Home’s Ceiling

Insulate the ceiling cavity in each room, as this is often where the most heat escapes. The thicker the insulation, the higher the insulating properties. Go as thick as you can (100mm will do the trick in a big room). Take a peek inside your roof cavity and if there is already insulation, check that it does not need replacing, or perhaps an extra layer. It’s the fastest and cheapest way to keep a constant temperature indoors.

2. Insulate Your Home’s Walls

If you live in an area that experiences extreme temperatures, external cavity walls can also be filled with insulation fibre when exposed during a big renovation. If your renovation doesn’t involve breaking down or removing any walls, insulation board can be retrofitted to interior walls. You could also choose to apply a cladded insulation system called ETICS to existing exterior walls, which also facilitates the application of attractive facades and drastically reduces the transfer of heat and cold through walls.

3. Insulate Your Geyser

Ensure all geysers are insulated with a thermal blanket, as well as all hot water pipes. Insulation products available in rolls or sections that can be cut to the required size are a simple, affordable and practical way to improve the loss of heat through your water pipes and geysers, therefore improving energy efficiency and costs.

4. Install Airtight Windows and Doors

Another key home feature that affects thermal comfort are windows and doors. Windows and doors should seal tightly to prevent cold air coming in and heat escaping. Consider replacing existing steel windows with high quality aluminum windows – these are significantly more airtight and require no maintenance.

5. Consider Low Emission Glass

Double-glazed windows are ideal for areas that get extremely cold, but may not be an option on a tight budget. A highly effective alternative to double-glazed glass is Low Emission glass (Low E), which is coated with an insulating and transparent film. A glass thickness of 6.4mm also offers higher insulation properties than standard 4mm glass, and 6.4mm Low E glass has been very effectively used for double volume spaces with feature windows.

To learn more about some of the solutions mentioned above, visit the Stand 47 How To Guides.

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While a great bed is a good start, other factors that will affect your sleep quality include noise, air quality, air flow, room temperature and light. Saint-Gobain building materials were used in Stand 47 to illustrate how they can contribute to overall comfort and improved sleep. These materials include a number of Gyproc plasterboards with varying functions such as Activ’ Air – a wall that absorbs formaldehydes to make the air cleaner. Geoffrey Crow, Brand and Marketing Manager at Century Property Developments, was one of the Stand 47 Rest Test Pilots who spent a night at Stand 47 to experience the home for themselves.

“The house was extremely quiet, and I slept much better than I expected to,” says Geoffrey. “Now that I have experienced a luxury home built without bricks for the first time, my perceptions of homes like Stand 47 have changed.”

About Stand 47

Saint-Gobain produces building materials that are geared to help you build a better home for improved quality of life that are also kinder to the environment. Not satisfied with simply making this claim themselves, Saint-Gobain built Stand 47 using their own materials so others could experience this improved home for themselves. The result? A home that offers better sleep, more relaxation and improved productivity levels.

Fancy being one of Saint-Gobain’s Rest Test Pilots? Apply to test the Stand 47 house for yourself at stand47.co.za.

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PHOTOS Dook PRODUCTION Klara van Wyngaarden WORDS Lisa Johnston

Design maverick, art gallery owner and architecture aficionado Gavin Rooke has turned property developer with a new Monaghan Farm house that is a case study for how design and engineering can meet at the sweet spot of eco-friendly beauty. 

A row of eucalyptus trees echoes the long horizontal lines of Stand 47 – a contemporary home set amid green and amber veld grasses on Monaghan Farm just north of Lanseria Airport, Johannesburg. It sets the perfect stage for the house itself, which is a prototype for a new vernacular architecture that uses high-end engineering and design, but manages to integrate this efficiency with environmental and aesthetic appeal.

“No one builds like this,” says property developer Gavin Rooke, referring to the considered approach to every aspect of the design and materials – resulting in the house being built quickly, with excellent acoustics, cool in summer, warm in winter and easy to heat,  together adding up to a lower carbon footprint. “We set an efficiency mandate: get the most out of everything we put in.”

The team, including architect Karlien Thomashoff, has designed the house around a light steel frame using External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) for the walls. The only exception is a stone feature wall that, together with parquet flooring, add visual warmth to the interior. The design needed to make the best possible use of the materials to increase energy efficiency, but keep waste and costs down.

It also needed to turn traditional notions of a home’s requirements on its head, by adapting to the owners’ needs over time. For example, two of the three bedrooms can be used either as a bedroom, guest room or an office, making the house suitable for a young couple working from home, a small family or an older couple whose children have left home, but may still visit. The bathroom works in a similar way. The shower, bathroom and toilet are in separate but inter-leading rooms, which can be closed off or opened up, depending on how many people are using them at a given time.

The design has also taken ease of renovation into consideration. Since the house is built around a steel frame, interior changes won’t compromise the structure of the building in any way. The flooring was laid in a continuous sheet throughout the length of the house before the interior walls were established, which means that if the owners decide to change the layout of the interior they won’t need to replace the flooring.

In terms of its environmental impact, Stand 47 has shifted the focus from “green building” in terms of biodegradable products, to overall durability and efficiency. In addition, the majority of power is generated through 40 solar panels on the roof, water is heated by means of a heat pump and there are three large tanks for rainwater harvesting.

“I wanted to show that you could build a home at the top end of the scale that was highly comfortable and appealing, but that performs better,” says Gavin. “This isn’t about getting off the grid for the sake of getting off the grid, this is about building a state-of-the-art house using contemporary materials and design… This is a machine for living.”

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The morning tour allowed VISI readers to meet VISI’s Deputy Editor Annemarie Meintjes, design maverick Gavin Rooke (one of the driving forces behind Stand 47) and Stand 47 architect Karlien Thomashoff.

After exploring the house with a glass of Graham Beck Brut and a slice of chocolate cake in hand, readers were treated to a thorough overview from Gavin and Karlien about the history of Stand 47, what drove the project, what materials and design thinking went into the house, as well as what the outcomes were, both expected and unexpected.

With opportunities to ask questions of Annemarie, Gavin and Karlien, readers were not only able to experience a great space that VISI so enjoyed profiling, but also find out how to build a similar house themselves.

As a parting gift, readers took home the latest issue of VISI and a bottle of Graham Beck Brut.

Want to join us on our next VISI Great Spaces tour? Here’s everything you need to know.

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In Kitchen Confidential on page 18, you’ll get a sneak peek into the kitchens of six of the country’s top chefs, including David Higgs of Joburg’s Saxon Hotel and Emma Chen of Red Chamber Mandarin Restaurant.

As seen on our bright and beautiful cover, you’re invited to take an inside look into KLûK CGDT’s brand new (and super stylish) flagship store on Bree Street in Cape Town on page 54.

The homes in VISI 75 range from a tiny farm cottage in Paternoster (page 72) to the incredible &Beyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge (page 116). Our deputy editor Annemarie Meintjies reports back from Maison&Objet in Paris on page 146 (you’ll want to take note of her findings) and we share 28 reasons why we all love holidays.

If you’re in the Joburg area, you can also book your spot at VISI’s first-ever Great Spaces Tour, in association with Saint-Gobain. The inaugural tour will take place on Saturday 31 January from 10am until 12pm at the remarkable Stand 47 house on Monaghan Farm. Space is limited, so make sure to buy your ticket ASAP.

From exclusive Italian-designed furniture from SW Contracts worth R30 000 to marvelous book hampers and decor accessories, there are loads of amazing giveaways to enter over the holidays too. Remember – you can enter as many times as you like. Good luck!

Now, it’s time to travel safe and have a relaxing break. You deserve it.

P.S. If you don’t want your copy of VISI to get damaged while you’re out and about these holidays, you can always download the digital edition right here.

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We featured Gavin Rooke’s Stand 47 – a prototype house for super green, super stylish living built on Monaghan Farm north of Johannesburg – in our May/June 2014 GREENOVATION issue of VISI.  Here is Gavin’s own house at Monaghan Farm, arguably the prototype for Stand 47, and inspired by the stripped-down architecture of the Case Study Houses in Los Angeles in the mid 20th century.

Imagine three narrow, white shoe boxes. Now position them to form the capital letter H and you’re starting to see how the new home of Gavin and Karin Rooke took shape.

Recently completed on the Monaghan Farm eco estate north of Johannesburg, the house was designed by Pretoria architect Karlien Thomashoff. Karlien worked closely with the owners who came to the project with one wish in mind: to build a South African interpretation of the legendary Los Angeles Case Study Houses of the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

Gavin Rooke had already designed two family homes himself, so gave the architect a very clear idea of what they wanted. Happily, the two parties saw eye-to-eye on several levels and, most importantly, shared an appreciation of the essence of Modernism – that the function of a house determines its aesthetic.

With architect and client sharing this knowledge of and appreciation for all aspects of Modernism (Karlien’s grandfather was the legendary Pretoria Modernist Philip Nel), it remained for the breathtaking views of the site, on a hillside of the farm, to act as the inspiration for a stripped-down style of architecture so rare on the South African landscape.

Both Karin and Gavin Rooke grew up in Modern homes in Pretoria so there was some nostalgia in their desire to create a Modernist lifestyle for their family of four.

The Case Study House that most inspired their new home was No 18, or Field House, designed by Craig Ellwood. Both houses are clean and simple glass boxes with a glamorous swimming pool dominating the front aspect of the home.

However, with the Rookes’ striking, charcoal slate floors, which flow throughout the house and straight onto the outside living area, their house is firmly rooted in South Africa.

Beams that extend from inside the house to outside, in a series of elegant legs, contribute to the sense that this house sits lightly on its Highveld hill and there is very little separating the interiors from the outdoors.

Once they had chosen the farm site for their house, they literally sat on the hill with three shoe boxes, working out which aspect would give their “Case Study” home the best view and light.

“It’s all about the view,” says Karin, who delights in demonstrating how one can stand outside one length of the H shape and look straight through the house to the other side.

Karlien refers to the house as a piece of “paper architecture” and a “non-roof” house, again emphasising the lightness of the home’s design.

What she calls a non-roof was not a simple procedure, the architect explains, and although you can hardly see it now, it was the trickiest part of the house to construct.

The house is built along a simple grid. One long length of the H shape houses three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dressing room and a study. All spaces are concealed behind sliding doors that are painted the same unique, grey-white colour as the unplastered walls – thus adding to the seamless flow of the house.

There are no window frames puncturing the glass walls, only louvre windows allowing limitless vistas.

Stripped-down architecture requires meticulous detail and Gavin points to this detail as “moments of sheer genius on behalf of the architect”. There are no skirting boards, carpet trims or even plaster, meaning there was no place to hide and all work had to be perfect.

The other long length of the H is where you’ll find the lounge and dining area, with both lengths opening from floor to ceiling to suck in the exceptional view. A long, welcoming kitchen connects the two lengths and invites visitors in at the front door.

Karin undertook the interiors of the home, working with members of Karlien’s team and Koop Design in Durban to create all the timber work. Almost all the other pieces are from Tonic, Eames or Jeremy Stephen Antiques.

It was important that all the furniture was conceptualised at the time that the house was designed, says Gavin. Nothing was bought after the house was completed.

“For this house to work, we had to know where every piece of furniture was going to go before the house was built.”

The Rookes deliberately avoided dramatic design statements, choosing only complimentary colours and textures that add to the calm flow of the house. Grey linen curtains hang quietly throughout the house. All the furniture is either wooden, grey, black or white and each piece carefully selected to fulfill its functional purpose.

Karin also focused meticulously on consistency: All the lights are black, for example. All the floors are charcoal grey. The only splash of colour is orange. “Repetition makes things easy on the eye,” she says.

Karin also wanted outdoor furniture that would be almost invisible. When she couldn’t find what she wanted, Karin literally drew up her own simple but striking designs with a black, fine-liner khoki and had them made.

A unique aesthetic collaboration between owners and architect, House Rooke is not only an accurate depiction of the Case Study style. It’s also proof that when knowledge and personal passion are made manifest, the result just works. 

Karlien Thomashoff, Thomashoff + Partner Architects, 012 341 4508 or karlien@thomashoffstudio.co.za

Read about Gavin’s even more eco Monaghan Farm prototype, Stand 47, in our May/June 2014 GREENOVATION issue of VISI.

See more Monaghan Farm homes here.

 

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