7 minute read
Soil and serenity
Set in the tranquil and undulating hills of the Highveld and overlooking the Rhenosterspruit Conservancy valley, is a building that tells a story of soil and serenity through its deep connection to person and place.
René Walker Simoné du Plessis, Veld Architects
Location: Architect: Engineer: Contractor:
Lanseria, Gauteng Veld Architects TMV Structural Engineers Helder Rock Developments
The client's brief for this new home in the Highveld landscape of Lanseria, was simple and unique: Create a sustainable home that incorporates tranquillity, celebrates the views of the mountainous horizon, is unobtrusive and will harness the best potential of the site.
As a single mother working from home as a professional geologist, the building needed to be multi-functional and allow for optimal connection with nature. Seeing that the client also has a deep love of nature, spaces needed to be connected to the outside environment as much as possible, with a tranquil outside bathroom space for the main ensuite as a personal request for the design.
In terms of maintenance, the client wanted the building to be constructed from simple, durable materials that would require minimal maintenance in the future. Sustainable principles such as rainwater harvesting and solar collection on site was unnegotiable and needed to be incorporated from the start of the design process. It also had to be inconspicuous and seamlessly integrated into the overall function as well as aesthetic of the building.
As modern professional architects, we aim to design buildings that make our clients happy and healthy. Therefore, we adopt the latest architectural findings on sustainability, eco-friendly designs and the value of living with nature and incorporate these principles into our design. From style and unique design features to incorporating resilient systems and low-maintenance materials, this veld home is no exception and is well rooted in the sustainable design ethos.
As it was important for the client to have optimal connection with the natural environment in which the site is located, one of the main informants for the design was the context and the potential of the site. This resulted in a design that does not exist in isolation but responds to and improves its surroundings. Due to a significant slope on site from the southern to the northern boundary, soil was excavated to create a building platform that creates a protective back of natural landscape for the rear of the building to the south.
Too often, the natural landscape of a building is only considered in hindsight. In doing this, the powerful connection that exists between a building, the landscape and the user is lost. To ensure this connection was not lost, the excavated soil from the site was repurposed and interwoven into the building to pay homage to the client’s profession as a geologist and was manifested in rammed earth walls as a unique feature. These feature walls subtly, yet intentionally mimic the surrounding hills and create a main entrance axis which guides users into the site and building. By mimicking the same contours and slightly recessing the building into the landscape, the building is unobtrusive from the street and truly becomes part of the surrounding natural environment.
A sustainable home that is multi-functional
Another key role player in the design was functionality. As we all know, architecture is all about form and function. The ‘form’ part, or the aesthetics of a design, encompass everything that helps to create a pleasing appearance. ‘Function’ of a design refers to the purpose of a structure or building.
As the purpose of this specific home as per the client’s brief was to create a sustainable home that is multi-functional and harnesses the best potential of the site, form followed function in the design process.
This led to a plan and section that is simplistic, direct and well-rooted in passive design principles. The plan follows a protective back which reinforces the site topography and introduces open plan living that permits multi-functional and transitional spaces. By embracing the sweeping views in a linear design towards the north, the building also takes advantage of natural lighting with large glazing elements.
The building exhibits a naturally ventilated strategy that invites fresh air in through openable window and doors located closer to finished floor level and exhales mixed hot air out through openable top light windows closer to the high-volume soffits. The correct placement of doorways and windows, and the appropriate height of ceilings allow for natural air forces of wind and buoyancy to do all the work.
Well-being and a holistic design ethos
Not only does it allow for adequate natural lighting and cross ventilation, the linear layout of the building also ensures the home takes advantage of the mountainous views. Apart from context and functionality, well-being and a holistic design ethos also formed part of the design informants. As humans spend inordinate amounts of time inside buildings and especially their own homes in these pandemic times, it is essential to create homes that encourage more meaningful and healthier lifestyles.
This can be done by ensuring optimal connections within buildings to the natural environment through sound, sight, smell and hapticity. Therefore, by designing with a holistic approach through keeping sensory experiences in mind and generating vistas to the outdoors from all of the spaces within this veld home, the architecture instils a healthy flow throughout and contribute to the well-being of its users.
It is our responsibility as architects to minimise the impact of our carbon footprints and ensure that we create buildings that are regenerative and resilient. The ability to design greener, sustainable buildings should not only aim to have a reduced impact on the environment but also help restore our natural resources.
Apart from making use of passive design principles and low-maintenance materials to reduce the carbon footprint, the design furthermore includes two sustainable strategies to harness the natural resources of the site. introduced on the double garage roof area to ensure that the building can function off the grid.
Functional yet beautiful spaces
The design translates the needs of the client into functional yet beautiful spaces. The home is cool during summer and hot in winters which diminishes the need for additional heating or cooling methods.
The materials are simplistic and the rammed earth walls echoes a bit of what the client does professionally within her home. Each living space in the house has a view towards the valley and if you listen carefully, you can hear the river trickling past as it travels along the riverbed – all elements which contribute to the well-being of the users and ensure a healthy environment.
The building integrates seamlessly into the landscape by responding to the context and not only does the design of the house echo sustainability, but it also considers the practicalities of the future in terms of space and value. It exemplifies the seamless merging of the client’s personal ethics and aesthetics with the contextual environment to tell the story of a connected and unobtrusive space of soil and serenity. ■
The first strategy of rainwater collection is integrated into the overall design of the home by creating a floating singular mono-pitch roof which allows for maximum catchment area for rainwater collection into corrugated steel water tanks strategically located on the periphery of the building. Purpose-made gutters with intricate spout details into the rainwater tanks celebrates the attention to detail of the practical.
The second strategy takes advantage of the sunny South African weather. Solar collection and storage are
