Pearl Valley Residence Paarl

We faced several challenges to design a contemporary and expansive family home within very prescriptive Estate Architectural Guidelines. The client’s brief called for a low-slung modernist home whereas the estate guidelines prescribe monolithic structures with prominent slate or thatched roofs. We decided to mitigate and contrast the traditional slate roofscapes with horizontal concrete elements such as cantilevering slab edges, concrete “eyebrows” hovering over windows and sliding doors and steel shade canopies. The house’s layout will maximize views to the surrounding mountain ranges as well as enforce connections with the surrounding gardens and wrap-around pool. The pool is extended as a water feature into a courtyard that visually link the entrance and the main living areas. On typically hot summer days, all these spaces can open up to the water filled courtyard by means of pocket sliding glass panels.