Award for Residential Architecture

Proud to announce that the house won the Pretoria Institute’s Award for Residential Architecture.

This modest three-levelled and two bedroom house for an architect and her husband was constructed on a restricted north facing and steeply sloping site in the dense and nondescript Gift Acres Estate in Lynnwood Ridge. The presence of a large rock decreases the garage frontage of this dwelling, which is ubiquitous in the estate and hides a large basement parking area and water storage tanks. The compact house is well positioned, taking advantage of the south views to the nature reserve and koppie and north westerly views over Pretoria. The functional organisation is unusual with circulation and bathrooms on the north facade and bedrooms on the south. Living spaces have the advantage of front and rear frontages providing direct contact with the garden terrace at first floor level and views as well as sun on the north. Solar control is integral to the design through overhangs while sufficient thermal mass provides year-round internal comfort. Material choices and detailing are innovative, integral and unobtrusive.

Citation by: Arthur Barker