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Location Johannesburg, South Africa
Architect: Gottsmann Architects
Photographer Credit: Rene Walker

This is a low-lying house that seeks to blend in with the surrounding landscape rather than compete. Surrounded by lush greenery in Johannesburg, it is designed to create the necessary privacy between neighbours whilst showcasing bright living areas that are free of curtains and blinds. It is a contemporary design that is not pretentious but refined.

The brief called for the design of a contemporary single-storey family home with 4 bedrooms and open living areas. The open-plan nature of the home merges with the exterior landscape allowing a person to move freely between inside and outside space. A two-storey open volume passage with an extended visual axis at both ends divides the home into its public and private domains. This passage acts as the foyer, the primary circulation route, and a gallery.

The concrete house seeks to be pure in both form and materiality, where the use of material is expressed in a purposeful and unambiguous manner. Gottsmann Architects placed a focus on developing a design that incorporated natural light, good circulation and flow of spaces, and strong visual connections to the surrounding landscape. In doing so, the expansive use of glass helps blur the lines between the interior and the exterior, connecting the inhabitant to the surrounding green open spaces. There is also a central garden atrium, allowing the house to ‘breathe’ by bringing natural light into the interior of the house.