HOUSE OF STATURE IN SAXONWOLD
HERITAGE
The remodelling concept of this heritage house, stems primarily from the need to increase available area for new and more contemporary uses, as well as upgrading parts that were no longer adequate for modern living. Built in 1929, the house had over the years received several additions that were detrimental to its style. The brief, as a result, was to reinstate the lost stature of the original design, but with some remodelling and additions, to accommodate the lawyer-client’s family and his work-from-home needs.
Elements that were preserved and restored to their original glory include the brick fire place, white painted panelled doors, architraves, articulated ceilings of the formal dining room, timber door- and windows assemblies,
beam trimmings at the entrance hall and the delicate lead-glass doors and windows of the formal lounge.
The main new additions, including the lawyers’ chambers with new library and a large covered patio, were positioned in front of the existing house, thus creating a deep building. This necessitated an internal source of natural day light, which informed the seminal conceptual idea for one of the main features of this home: the connecting space between the old and the new buildings is a glazed conservatory, acting as family room. Detailed with floors of Black Zimbabwe granite and Carrara marble, this space floods the heart of the home with natural day light.
