architectural portfolio
BREAKWATER BAY RESIDENCE
This residential project, initiated towards the end of 2017, is under construction and sheduled for completion by yearend 2018.
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Project Brief
The client tasked us with designing a retirement home in Breakwater Bay Eco Estate near George in the Western Cape. The estate has strict guidelines which require the placement of contemporary, upmarket homes in unobstructed, and undisturbed natural fynbos.
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The client asked for a single story, eco-friendly home which could be used well into retirement. The target size was just short of 500m² with a budget of R8 million. The site has stunning sea views over the estate to the South with a steep slope rising 14m from the roadside towards the north.
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I provided full architectural services for the project, excluding the role of principal agent. I flew down to George to conduct site inspections on a regular basis and issued architectural reports and updated drawings as necessary.
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My Role
I was tasked with heading up the project in its entirety. Everything shown was designed, drawn, modelled or rendered by myself.
Concept
In order to accommodate the client's request for a single storey home on the steep site, the home was designed as a long, thin run aligned to the contours of the site and pushed as high up the slope as allowed by the building lines. This minimizes the amount of cut and fill, while maximising views towards the ocean.
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The garden, which is limited in size and scope by estate guidelines, is contained by a series of curvilinear retaining walls which contrast the orthogonal forms of the house above. The retaining walls in the front create stepped planters, each less than a meter in height, creating privacy from the road below, but allowing balustrades to be omitted to create unobstructed views out of the home.
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The home faces South for views, but is designed with two levels of clerestory windows to allow northern light into every space in the house.
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The original concept, shown in the images above, made it possible to build the entire home on a single story with the Garage behind. Because the estate would not allow the driveway paving to go over the building line, it was decided to accommodate the garage on a lower ground level with the entire living area on a single level above. The design included provision for a domestic lift, should the level change become a problem in future. The final approved concept is shown along side.
Construction Documentation
The design posed a number of detailing
challenges in order to achieve the deceptively simple aesthetic. The full set of working drawings alongside show the highly detailed design integration of a number of important features including:
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-A green roof
-Concealed drainage from roof slabs, courtyards, etc.
-An integrated rain water harvesting and storage system
-A Photovoltaic Solar Energy System
-A gas system for cooking and heating
-Energy Efficient Double Low-E glazing
-A heat-pump driven ring main hot water system
-Continuous vertically curved ceilings allowing for hidden curtain systems
-Cavity Walls
-Etc.
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Workflow
The original concept was modelled and rendered in SketchUp, with all subsequent stages fully modelled and drawn in Revit. Final Renderings were done in Lumion.
During the construction process, I would often catch the plane from Johannesburg to George in the early morning and study the latest set of working drawings on a tablet during the flight. I would then conduct a detailed site inspection and attend meetings with various contractors, before catching a flight back to Johannesburg in the afternoon. I would type up the architectural report on the plane and have it ready to be sent out from the office the next morning.
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Despite the distance from the project, this process ensured that countless dangerous mistakes by the contractors were identified and corrected. The project ultimately benefitted immensely from my continuous architectural involvement and we have received many compliments on the design from all involved. The building is currently nearing completion and should make for a wonderful home for our clients.
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The photos along side and the 360° photos below show the building as it was on my most recent site visit.