WEEK 14: THE MUIZEBURG PROJECT

An alteration project in Muizenburg which had undergone its design and council phase and then put on pause since last year until now, is ready for construction.

The small scale project consists of an addition of two bedrooms with a bathroom in the garden, those of which will latch onto the existing house. That will include a deck pathway that will connect a garage to one of the new bedrooms.

It seems like an easy task until you consider the site conditions, which will give you a different perspective of the project.

1)    The existing plinth is incredibly high. So high that you can only enter the house through the use of steps from both entrances (back and front).

2)    The second room has to sit exactly on the boundary, meaning that a new wall has to be built on top of the existing boundary wall, without affecting the neighbours.

3)     The new structures will block off the sun from the garden.

4)    The existing house is Victorian, so already

 

At the same time, those conditions are what help influence the design itself.

 

 

 

WEEK 13: BRENDON COURT, SEA POINT

It is often said that no hard work goes unnoticed. Well, this has been proven to be true when we were approached by a tenant from the block of flats we have been renovating in Sea Point.

After a series of successful internal renovations and balcony additions at Brendon Court and just as we thought we had closed off another chapter, a client came with a request similar to what we had been busy with – an extension of her kitchen, a removal of existing window and replacing them with doors, and a nice long balcony access the beautiful views offered by the area.

So today’s task is a brief visit to the clients’ flat in order to capture images and measure and go back to draw up the existing on AutoCAD before the design phase commences.

WEEK 12: COURTYARD ROOM

One of our projects which I blogged about earlier this year, and probably the longest running in the company’s history considering its scale has to undergo another change.

The Observatory project of linking two neighbouring houses with a courtyard roof, has been a great learning platform for me and past students who have worked on it during their internship in the company (that is how long it has been around). The houses both rest on different ERFs and are separated by a (now demolished) boundary wall.

An initial proposal of a courtyard roof which the client had agreed upon was approved by council, but now the client has had a change of heart and would like a different design. And since a client should always be kept happy, our immediate reaction to that was pulling out our pencils in order to go back to the drawing board, literally.  But with the issues regarding the building regulations and the preserving of the Victorian aesthetics the council is obsessing about, the task has proven to be a bit difficult.

 

Because the plots are separate, the council wants the new courtyard roof to not negatively affect future tenants. And that means an erection of a future possible firewall should be accommodated for, and the central part of the pitched roof should remain void. The roof, which was initially intended to be glass, is now going to be made of steel posts, with clear polycarbonate sheets covering while allowing the sun to penetrate through. And of course that has come with my favourite calculations.

The central void has to be at least 500mm wide precisely from the boundary line, and the steel posts / rafters should be lifted off the top of the parapet wall while the sides of the roof have to be completely open. This is part of what the council has instructed in order to have a total of 60% of the floor area open. All of that has to be done with the consideration of the existing eaves, which will probably have to be cut back.

 

My good friend Sketch Up has helped a lot…

WEEK 11: RESPONSIBILITY

This moment is very important to me in an unimaginable way. It’s a point that marks my growth as an architectural intern, a point where I temporarily leave the nest in which I have been taught my skills. This probably sounds like an absurd metaphor, so I will go right ahead and explicitly reveal what I am gushing about. The boss is leaving for a couple of days, leaving me in charge. ME! Let that sink in.

Not that there was anyone else to divert the responsibilities to (look at me, bursting my own bubble), but still she chose to allow me. That means she trusts me to assume the responsibility of being my own intern and boss simultaneously. Well, at least for the next three days anyway.

A part of me is bordering a state of panic which I am desperately attempting to suppress with the excitement that’s practically taking over me. Calm down Simamkele. Calm down.

The first thing that came to mind was THAT little voice asking “what am I going to do? Well, at least I have an answer to that. The council submissions are almost complete, but there are a few more things that have to be done to seal the package. And by “a few more things” I mean fenestration and energy calculations. The part that no one wants to get to. That should keep my math loathing mind busy for the next couple of hours. Days? Maybe.  I am just looking forward to the last part – colouring!