Metropolis Design, CC

House In Constantia Valley

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

HOUSE IN CONSTANTIA VALLEY

 Metropolis Design

ARCHITECTS
Metropolis Design

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Jon Jacobson, Mandi Pretorius

QUANTITY SURVEYORS
Prodigious - Roelof Delport

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Sutherland & Associates (Pty)ltd - Justin Arendse

CONTRACTOR
Hfo Construction - Riaan Louwrens

PHOTOGRAPHS
Wieland Gleich - Archigraphy

AREA
843.0 sqm

YEAR
2014

LOCATION
Cape Town, South Africa

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

INTRODUCTION

This new residence, located on a beautiful wooded riverside site in the Constantia Valley, attempts to establish a close relationship with a relatively unspoilt piece of the natural environment.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

It is entirely surrounded by tall well-established trees. As a result, despite being located on a relatively busy suburban road.

SITE AND CONTEXT

The site, subdivided off from a larger estate, and originally containing lawns and a tennis court, has a gentle fall to a beautiful stream to the south, which hosts a variety of birds and wildlife.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

The site is visually completely secluded, a ’clearing in the forest’, offering a unique set of opportunities for transparency and continuity with its surroundings.

In terms of NEMA legislation, the house was required to be set back 30m from the stream.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

The site between house and stream was rehabilitated, the tennis court and lawns were removed and replaced with an indigenous garden, accessed by elevated timber boardwalks and flowing continuously into the lush riverbank vegetation.

BRIEF

The clients, a couple with grown children, require a 3- bedroom, open plan house for themselves and occasional guests.

The brief focused on simplicity of lifestyle, ease of use, the pleasure of well-crafted natural materials and directness of experience of the natural surroundings.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

CONCEPT

The green wall of trees surrounding the site, were seen as the living perimeter of the house, with the roof expressed as a long continuous inclined plane falling with the slope of the site and forming an evocation of tree canopy, over a free-flowing ground plane.

The single storey structure hugs the ground plane and is glazed extensively, to establish contact with the outdoors all round.

The street edge is protected by a massive concrete wall, which is designed to reflect road noise from the living areas.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

PROGRAM AND ORGANISATION

The house is arranged linearly, parallel to the river on the south and opening up to the sun along its entire length to the north. The living accommodation is positioned closer to Brommersvlei Road to the east, with the bedroom section on the interior of the site.

The house pivots around a well-established oak tree, which deforms what could have been an idealized floor plan and establishes the idea of a resurgent nature as the primary element on the site.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

The single storey structure hugs the ground plane and is glazed extensively, to establish contact with the outdoors all round. The street edge is protected by a massive concrete wall, which is designed to reflect road noise from the living areas.

A series of courtyards and patios, each offering a different experience of site and different degrees of sun exposure and wind protection at different times of the year, focus each grouping of accommodation.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

The entrance court, a roughly square piazza- sized space, bounded by massive concrete and stone elements, is intended to establish an atmosphere of tranquility and silence as the prevalent mood of the house.

The kitchen and dining room open entirely onto a covered braai patio and the lounge is bounded by two courtyards, one planted and one containing a long natural pond.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

The entire south façade has an extended timber patio, which forms an interface between interior floor-plane and garden.

Circulation is structured by two cross-axes, both of which start and terminate in the landscape and which are formed by long wall elements.

House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY
House In Constantia Valley
© Wieland Gleich - ARCHIGRAPHY

All the wall elements of the house are detached from the roof and extend out into the landscape to enclose outdoor space and blur the distinction between inside and outside


House In Constantia Valley
Section
House In Constantia Valley
Elevations


House In Constantia Valley
Floor Plan
House In Constantia Valley
Site Plan
House In Constantia Valley
Roof Plan

Metropolis Design, CC
T +27 21 423 7104
Metropolis Design, CC
8 Kloof St, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa