architectural portfolio
KEURBOOMSTRAND RESIDENCE
This residential project, initiated towards the end of 2018, is currently in progress with only the concept stage having been completed.
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Project Brief
The client tasked Archland Design Studios with designing a holiday home in Keurboomstrand along the Western Cape's Garden Route. The site is densely forested, with an existing log cabin which the client want's to demolish. The site is very steep with limited access to its upper section, but it does have sea views towards the south east. The somewhat ambitious aim was to accommodate a 180m² of living space, including four bedrooms.
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My Role
I was tasked with heading up the project in its entirety. Everything shown was designed, modelled and illustrated by myself.
Concept
A survey and thorough site analysis revealed that the site's unique character was derived from the dense vegetation which also provides privacy from the neighbouring buildings which are built quite close to the property in question. It was thus decided to preserve all of the existing trees and dense shrubbery.
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The steepness and general inaccessibility of the site meant that earthworks would be very expensive and difficult to carry out, so it was decided that the home would be limited to the footprint and ground levels of the existing log cabin to keep within the limited budget. These same factors also meant that it would be difficult to construct the main building out of heavy elements like concrete and masonry. For this reason, the entire upper structure was designed to be constructed out of timber which could easily be carried up to the site by hand.
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The road access and location of existing trees, however, meant that the only place where a closed garage for the cars could be accommodated was the lower corner or the site. Furthermore, the garage had to be placed at a 45° angle to the main house above, which was aligned to the building pad of the existing log cabin.
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Because the level of the garage would be accessible to vehicles, this structure could be constructed of concrete and masonry which is well suited to the retaining wall structures neccessary to dig it into the site. The garage would then form a stereotomic plinth with a tectonic timber structure floating above.
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The 45° angle of the garage happened to also look in the direction of the main sea view, so the main house was designed as a play between the two angles. This aesthetic was repeated in elevation through the use of a slanted laminated timber column to support the decks above the garage.
Due to the large level differences necessitated by the site, the rest of the house was designed as an expression of vertical structure, emphasizing rather than fighting against the verticality of the design. A grid of laminated timber columns was used to support the structure, while the external cladding was a variation between weatherboard and hardwood to optimise costs while creating visual interest.
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Workflow
The entire project was modelled and drawn in Revit, with the renders and the 360° interactive views rendered in Lumion.