African Design Magazine September 2016 | Page 56

African project Port Elizabeth house – South Africa How did the environment impact on the design? The sloping site offered the opportunity to become really elevated within the wellestablished vegetated site to maximise the views over the Baakens Valley. The suspended steel frame also allowed for a design that would not require costing retaining wall structures and the like. How would you describe the style of the house? The seed idea of the design was to develop a striking design yet at low cost by formulating a dynamic main frame which other lightweight secondary elements could slide or clip into. The two structural elements would work together, yet visually appose each other. Looking back at the completed project, what are your thoughts? It was a great project that allowed us to learn about many new products. It was also humbling at the same time to achieve a project of this nature for the allowable budget which many thought would be impossible.