The client acquired a beautiful property in Bryanston that had elevated west views
all the way over to the Northgate area. This created a contradiction: Face the
house towards the views but deal with the harsh west sun at the same time.
After much debate the client was adamant that they wanted to face the setting
sun. To deal with the harsh west sun externally placed moving sun screens were
proposed and large overhangs were designed to protect the living areas on the
the ground floor. The sloping site allowed for a semi-basement to be cut into
the land that would accommodate underground parking and staff quarters that
opened up onto courtyards. The front door of the house is also on the semi
basement level and is accessed from a driveway forecourt that is also cut into
the slope of the land. A committed modernist, the client dictated the
aesthetics of the house. Extended horizontal lines created by cantilevered
concrete slabs define the house. A construction system was decided upon that
would allow for the illusion of lightness in the structure. Therefore the
basement is of a conventional brick and concrete construction while the ground
floor is freed up by a series of steel H-section columns placed on a 5 x 5m
structural grid that supports the 400mm thick waffle concrete slab. This
allowed the entire front façade facing the view to be of glass and aluminium
sliding doors and gives the appearance that the first floor floats freely over
the ground floor. The roof construction is of a steel girder system supported
by steel H-section columns. All external and internal walls on the ground floor
and first floor could be non-loadbearing and are therefore built of a light
gauge steel structure cladded in EPS boarding and rendered with a polymer
render on the outside and standard gypsum boarding on the inside.