Stone House in Pretoria

Slee and Co Architects were commissioned to design a home for a young family with two adventurous boys. The clients bought a hectare stand in a rural estate on an koppie with a magnificent view over the landscape to the east of Pretoria. They wanted a home where all of this could become part of their lives. The design consists of a series of overscaled, red, "ysterklip" walls reminiscent of the dry-packed kraal walls in and around Pretoria. These stone walls, housing all the services, were staggered and positioned in such a way to create sheltered spaces between them, privacy from the neighbours on the sides and their main function; to concentrate and frame the important east and the west views. All the stone were collected from the site. Carefully placed rooflights allows north light to wash into the house against the stone walls, compensating for the east/west orientation of the site.

Award of Merit Citation: The design demonstrates a strong contextual response through to detailing and construction. Spatial and structural ordering of the house is informed by orientation and topography while an east-west alignment and a flat-roof profile generate a form which resonates with the natural ridge profile of the site. Abundance of loose natural rock on site inspired the wall detailing, structural and overall tactile expression of the house thus giving it a highly rustic and timeless aesthetic. The overall outcome is a project of merit which sits in a delicate but complementary relationship with its site both in terms of form, texture as well as climatic response.