‘Wildesering’ responds to a need to facilitate an intimate understanding of its surroundings and explores the South African tradition of living life on the front ‘stoep’. The site for this bushveld home is a beautiful little game farm on the outskirts of Pretoria. The architect wanted to explore the idea of a bushveld hideaway that figuratively grows out of its surroundings by imitating the free flowing branches of the numerous Wildesering (Burkea Africana), Boekenhout (Cape Beech) Lekkerbreek (Ochna Pulchra) and a various other variety of trees surrounding the home. “I wanted to let a walk through the house feel like a walk on a bushveld path, with each room becoming a place to stop and appreciate nature”.

The clients brief was simply this; “to design a contemporary bushveld hideaway the blends into this beautiful bushveld setting with only a ‘thin layer’ separating the interior from its surroundings”.

The layers of the interior are revealed slowly. The front ‘stoep’ & living areas runs the length of the house, with rooms spilling off it. A rusted steel door constructed from an old railway carriage slides open to reveal the main living area.

‘Wildesering’ purposely confuses the traditional boundaries between a building and its surroundings. Sliding doors, walls and roofs constantly modulate the threshold between inside and outside. Some external cladding elements are allowed to weather and rust, imitating the natural hues and colours of the bushveld.

Comment by Client:

We did not want the ordinary farmhouse style, but instead have lots of windows where nature could become part of our indoor and outdoor activities. Our architect, Jacques Orton achieved exactly that. It feels so good to wake up in the morning seeing Impala grazing outside. The huge Burkea Africana tree’s branches in front of the main bedroom create an almost luxurious treehouse feeling. All the windows and doors create the most beautiful God given ‘framed paintings’ that leaves one in awe every time you look at it. The privilege of nature’s paintings is that the ‘light’ display keeps on changing right through the day.

We love our new home!