Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		House Smuts Le Roux Johannesburg, Gauteng W DESIGN ARCHITECTURE STUDIO: Architect

Date: 2010? Type: Homestead Status: Extant 2011 PIA Award for Architecture

Award for Architecture Citation House Smuts Le Roux is situated south of Johannesburg on a residential golf estate known as Eye of Africa. Whereas most golf estates consist of closely packed houses bordering the greens, here an undulating landscape with rolling hills and woodlands creates a rare tranquil atmosphere. The brief was for a "small" home that should create "an endless perception of space" and that would "both provide privacy and be part of the surrounding country landscape". The designers achieved those goals admirably. They admit that Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House inspired the layout, massing and horizontality, but they reinterpreted this precedent in an imaginative way and in a thoroughly modern architectural language. The house is essentially H-shaped with the double garage attached as a separate "block" fronting the street. Building sections are thin – mostly just one room deep – and cross ventilation is facilitated through openings at both sides, mostly via glazed sliding doors. The adjudicators were impressed by the easy circulation flow from the entrance, through the house and on to the exterior spaces. The configurations of the patio (summer space) and lapa (winter courtyard), and their direct and seamless connection to the indoor living spaces, are particularly practical. Tectonically the design is beautifully understated, mature and completely controlled. Spaces both inside and out are appropriately sized, orientated and linked. Rooms are light and airy, and finishes and fittings are of a high standard. All these aspects combined result in a very pleasant house and a stage for a relaxed, informal country lifestyle. All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.