gabriel’s garden pavilion

westcliff

KOA was first commissioned to restore the house and later to design a new home-office for the owner. The site for the home-office is the lowest garden platform of the historic terraced  garden of a 1930’s house – now a National Monument – on the Westcliff ridge. This new building, a garden pavilion, is conceptualised as a landscape; as part of the language of the garden. Garden and building interchange, reflecting and framing each other.  Two existing garden retaining walls made of stone ramp up the West and South sides of the lowest garden terrace; the new office pavilion is created by placing two rectilinear forms alongside these stone walls but without touching them. The garden walls became the edge of the new building; they are damp in summer and cool the building; they are bathed in light as sun washes in from the glass skylights above. And thus starts the blurring of the boundaries between inside and out; between garden and built form. The building yields to exiting trees and historic pathways are integrated with new geometries. The new building, while quite large, does not impact on the existing historic house or its setting. It is carefully sited and the height specifically designed such that, even from the lowest terrace, the full view of the existing historic house and the garden terraces is maintained. The roofs are shallow ponds that reflect the trees and sky making the building ‘invisible’ from the upper terraces. Excess rainwater from these ponds is collected in tanks and re-cycled. Large overhangs protect the glazed façades in summer but allow the winter sun’s low angle to penetrate deeper into the spaces. Slide away doors allow for ample natural ventilation, simultaneously connecting the inside spaces directly to the garden.

Award - Regional Commendation SAIA Merit Awards
Award - International Commendation Architecture + Cityscape Commercial Category