West Coast, South Africa
On the edge of a small West Coast town in South Africa, where summers are dry and fierce and winters turn cold and wet, this house is designed to work with the climate; not against it.
Everything revolves around a courtyard.
Step through the front door and the house opens to a protected outdoor room. From here the kitchen and living spaces unfold, while the bedrooms sit apart like small cottages, each entered from the courtyard. The result feels less like a conventional house and more like a quiet retreat.
The courtyard creates its own microclimate. A pond cools the air. The walls shield the harsh afternoon sun.
Thick masonry walls do the hard work. They hold the cool through the heat of summer and keep the warmth in during winter.
Fireplaces inside and in the courtyard give the house different moods depending on the weather - open and breezy in summer, warm and intimate in winter.
And beyond the house, the land opens to wide views over the surrounding canola fields.
Simple moves. Honest materials. A house shaped by climate, landscape, and the rhythm of everyday life.
