Context and brief
The original three storey house is situated in Hout Bay on the slopes of the Table Mountain Nature reserve. The owners are very eco-conscious and wanted a house which limited the impact on the natural form and vegetation of the site. The core structure is conventional plastered brickwork but features extensive use of natural timber and sandstone, much of which was harvested from the site itself.
The brief was to provide an additional bedroom upstairs, a laundry and drying yard area, and a covered entertainment area, capturing the views up the mountain as well as looking down over the pool area.
The clients wanted a contemporary addition respecting the original house design and required that the construction process to have minimal impact on the site.
Design Solution
The form of the extension acknowledges and repeats the main house’s mono-pitched roofs and clerestory windows. In response to the desire to minimise the impact on the site, the addition is a lightweight timber structure. The natural timber clad low roofed, service ‘box’ serves to separate, yet link the original house to the new structure, while the timber and fibre-cement horizontal cladding contrasts with the plastered finishes of the main house. The covered entertainment timber deck area provides a threshold to the pool area and surrounding indigenous garden. Attention to proportions and scale, hierarchy of space and levels of privacy provide depth and layering to the design.
Through the use of complimentary materials and careful timber detailing, this small extension adds enormous value to the house while still respecting the original architecture.
2019