The Forest House, Durban Residence, KwaZulu-Natal Home, South African Residential Development, Architecture Photos

The Forest House in Durban

Modern Luxury Real Estate in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – design by Bloc Architects

9 Jan 2019

The Forest House, Durban

Design: Bloc Architects

Location: Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The Forest House in Durban, South Africa

The Forest House is an exploration into materiality, light and the integration of architecture into the landscape. Situated in an exclusive forest estate in Durban, South Africa, the forest house strives to frame the landscape with clean horizontal lines.

The home celebrates raw materials, which helps soften the transition between built form and the precious landscape that surrounds it. This raw materiality reinforces the honesty behind the architectural tectonics of its construction.

Through subtle manipulations of materials and forms we sought to alter perceptions. By chamfering brutal edges, we revealed concretes cool elegance. Concrete Frames are propped off steel columns converting heavy and cumbersome to light and agile.

The pool straddles inside and out, pulling ephemeral reflections of sky and clouds deep into the house. The indigenous wild grasses on the roofs blur boundaries between the landscape and architecture. Besides adding an animated aural experience, the planting offers a more pragmatic insulating layer from the outside.

Conceptually, the house consists of two rectangular boxes on ground (‘Service’ and ‘Storage’ boxes), on either side of the site. On top of this another box, the ‘Living’ box, bridges across the two lower boxes.

The ‘service’ box, to the West, houses the triple garage, laundry, scullery, staff apartment, gym and office. The ‘Storage’ box to the East, houses general storage and specialized equipment. Both are clad with timber screens to ensure privacy from the open plan ‘play’ area, which sits directly under the ‘Sleeping’ box.

These two ground floor boxes serve to provide privacy from the neighbors, and frame the prized views over the Northern landscape and distant sea views.

All doors and timber screens slide away seamlessly into cavities, ensuring cavernous volumes interact directly with the landscape.
This house was designed around the sub-tropical Durban climate and the young client’s social lifestyle.

The Forest House, Durban – Building Information

Architectural firm: Bloc Architects (in association with Kevin Lloyd architects)
Lead Architect: Bloc Architects
Interior architect: Bloc architects
Structural Engineer: Bischoff Ramphal
Contractor: Stefcon
Project year: 2017
Budget: NA

Suppliers
HB interiors: Aluminium doors
Kitchen Classics: kitchen and built-in cupboards
Greenline: engineered oak and tiles
Geberit: toilets
Blanco: mixers
Hansgrohe: mixers
Mier: black mixers

The Forest House in Durban images / information received 090119

Location: Durban, South Africa

South African Houses

Palm House, Palm Avenue, Zimbali Coastal Estate, KwaZulu Natal North Coast
Design: Metropole Architects

photographers: Alexis Diack Architecture & Design Photography
New Home in Kwazulu Natal

Beyond Residence, Cape Town
Design: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni and Leah Johnson

photographers: Adam Letch & Stefan Antoni
Beyond Residence Cape Town