VANISHING ACT
Modernist principles and a reverence for the site have ensured
that this monolithic holiday home in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley
is integrated in the landscape.
PHOTOS DANIELA ZONDAGH PRODUCTION ANNEMARIE MEINTJES WORDS AMELIA BROWN
urning off the Hemel-en-Aarde
Road, it’s a bumpy, winding as-
sent to this unconventional house
overlooking the valley and Fern-
kloof Nature Reserve. It appears
all of a sudden on the rise above
you. Well, its narrowest side does. Around another
bend and you approach it from its side elevation and
glimpse its low horizontal footprint. Then you’re right
up against the monolithic facade as you make the last
turn into the driveway.
Knysna-based architect Guillaume Pienaar of
Pinard Architecture was tasked with building a holiday
home for an active family of five in a disused quarry –
a scar on the otherwise untouched fynbos landscape
that had been zoned for a single dwelling. With anopen brief from the international owners for a simple
home that maximised the position and minimised the
impact on the surroundings, visually and ecologically,
the first stage was to find the orientation.
To experience it in 360 degrees throughout the day,
Guillaume decided to camp on-site. He took walks
with a neighbour who knows the area and its flora,
fauna and frequent fires.
“In this natural setting, we wanted to keep the
visual impact towards the valley floor to an absolute
minimum; and we managed to do this by not only
pushing the building away from the valley rim but also
orientating it to face the other way, leaving only the
short side visible from below.
The four bedrooms and main open-plan living
and dining area all make the most of the east-to-westT
visi.co.za JUNE/JULY 2019 78
�ISI HEMEL-EN-AARDE HOLIDAY HOME