Portfolio: a garden flat

The owners of this, then much neglected property approached Charl Create to revamp the historic house (not shown) from around 1930, that featured elements from the Arts and Crafts, Art Deco and early Modernism movements. An existing outbuilding was also converted to a garden flat (shown).

Due to the very steep slope the outbuilding had been split into two storeys: a storage room on the lower ground floor and a single garage on the higher ground floor. The lower floor room was retained and a laundry and a bathroom were added. Both of these serve the house. A covered stoop below the garden flat fronts onto the house's garden, allowing the house's occupants to remain out of sight of those in the garden flat.

The higher ground floor garage was converted to a garden flat with its own entrance, carport, stoop and garden. The living space as well as the bedroom receive good north sun. At the front door a roof overhang protects one from the elements. Both the garden flat as well as its roof terrace enjoy spectacular views of Pretoria city centre and the Union Buildings to the north, and of the Telkom tower and the Muckleneuk ridge to the south. The roof terrace is available to both the house and the garden flat.

The plan of the renovated outbuilding is based largely on the footprint of the original. While it is a small double storey structure, it reads from the lower ground floor as a three storey block – mainly on account of the north facade's two balconies, one of which is merely an extension of the roof terrace's concrete floor. These balconies with quadrant corners reflect the Art Deco bay windows of the house. A spectacular staircase is suspended mid-air between the garden flat and roof garden. Pergolas add texture by casting intricate shadows on the floors.

Simple and inexpensive building materials were used throughout, with almost no catalogue elements. The overall aesthetic is Modernist in the sense that there is little applied decor – the building's bold, sculptural shapes dominate and need no embellishment. The balustrades were designed to evoke memories of those used on the grand ocean cruise liners of the past.

Additional PDF files

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1. PIA exhibition poster of this garden flat (515 KB)
2. A poster from a private exhibition (523 KB)