Where man and mountain meet

Beyond their functional design, the new guest suites at 57 Waterberg in the Welgevonden Game Reserve, designed by W Design Architecture Studio, facilitate an emotional or spiritual awakening to the African landscape.

TEXT W DESIGN ARCHITECTURE STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON WEBB AND DOOK

Welgevonden Game Reserve forms part of the Waterberg Biosphere in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and is one of the most accessible premier malaria-free wilderness reserves in the country. The reserve is home to the ‘big five’ and over 130 different mammal species, 350 bird species, more than 2 000 different plant species, and is best known for its fascinating and rare ancient rock formations and layers of sandstone mountain ridges and ravines.

57 Waterberg is an existing private game lodge originally constructed in the early 2000s in the familiar wooden pole-and-thatch vernacular. In respectful contrast, the contemporary extension and renovation project, which includes five new luxury guest suites, an upgraded main lounge and entrance foyer, new and expanded chefs kitchen, laundry and various other ancillary functions, envisioned a ‘new dawn’ where the buildings become secondary to the guest experience – a place where the landscape and natural surroundings come first.

The concept for this project was to celebrate the context and create a space that appears as if it is a refinement and revelation of the land. The aim was to capture the unique qualities of the place – essentially creating a new nature in which the buildings merely facilitate visitors’ experience of the untamed African bush.

The new structures, and particularly the new guest suites, aren’t meant to be looked at, but to be looked out from. More than anything, these spaces are sheltered viewing platforms. The focus is on the presence of the layers of mountains, the natural bushveld, the countless animals, and the endless open space.

Due to very strict time constraints – 14 weeks from the day the last guests departed to the day first new guests arrived – in combination with the remote location, the construction process was based on separating all the various trades and planning for offsite manufacturing and on-site assembly – connecting and completing like an intricate three-dimensional puzzle.

All building elements and components were designed and planned as ‘single trade and unfinished’ – an approach that ensured the most direct and honest construction assembly. All designs had to be 100% confirmed and completed before any manufacturing on the primary structure could commence.

The five new luxury guest suites essentially function as sheltered viewing platforms: spaces to be looked out from rather than structures to be looked at.

Once the best position for each room was determined, with the design approach of ‘touching the earth lightly’, a series of reinforced concrete plinths were placed on the natural landscape. Each plinth was set out both in terms of plan and sectional provisions so that the steel structure could seamlessly slot into place later.

A mild steel primary frame shapes the skeleton or mainframe onto which all the other building components attach. Secondary materials include cast in-situ reinforced concrete for the ‘floating’ roofs, wooden decking for the floors, ceilings and terraces, aluminium and glass for the shopfronts.

The reinforced concrete slab was mixed on site with a small 500-litre mixer and cast in-situ using a conveyor belt and hand labour. Along with the various lightweight pre-manufactured and imported construction elements, native stone-clad screen walls ground the built structures. These clay brick walls are used to enclose the essentially open rooms and counterbalance the lightweight construction with heavy forms – almost as if the rocks scattered over the landscape had been pushed together.

LunaThermo-D Nordic Pine was used for all decking installations. External planks were used for the open decking and tongue-in-groove on a 25mm marine play base for the interiors. Aluminium framed double-glazed low-E panels complete the building envelope while maintaining the sense of connection to the landscape.

Custom-designed furniture, which was designed on the matching principle as the main room structure, is based on the same use of trades, materials and assembly process. The manufacture of the furniture started at the same time as the manufacturing of the main steel structures, duplicating the process on a smaller scale.

The most impressive aspect about these structures is how simple, precise and easy it all appears as they ‘float’ above the landscape as a fully completed project. 57waterberg.com; wdas.co.za