Epping Road House

Situated in Forest Town, Johannesburg, this house attempts to complete the incomplete modernism. Its protest against modern architecture as a freestanding sculpture to be admired in monumental isolation is evident as it attempts rather to produce architecture of frontality respecting the idea of a street.

The street is seen as the first layer and departure point. Next comes the set-back needed by the regulation – positively seen as yet another layer, followed by the elegant single-flight steel stair leading to the piano-nobile. This floor contains the foyer flanked on either side by study and workshops leading to the double-height dining and living zone. Separating the living area and the study/workshop areas is the strip of servant spaces of storage, cupboards, wardrobes, bookshelves, and so on. Giant sliding doors from living/dining open onto a terrace of timber decking housing the swimming pool. At ground level are the garages, cellars, and workshops.