Residential
House Yzerfontein is a private residence on the West Coast north of Cape Town. The defining architectural move is the roof: two flat concrete plates at different gradients, connected by a freeform vaulted shell that floats above the walls, supported on a series of tapered columns.
The design went through numerous iterations. Early versions explored a honeycomb structure of plywood cells — STP files generated in Rhino and Grasshopper for 5-axis CNC cutting in 18mm plywood. The structural and formal potential was clear, but the cost of fabrication made this path impractical. The lessons learned — about freeform geometry, structural optimisation, and the relationship between digital model and physical manufacture — were not lost. They directly shaped the concrete shell that was eventually built.
The entrance door is laser-cut in 10mm mild steel — a design derived from the same geometric logic as the roof structure, translating the vaulted geometry into a flat, perforated surface that filters light into the entry sequence.
Yzerfontein is a demonstration that the principles underlying earth architecture — structural efficiency, material minimalism, climatic adaptation — translate directly into contemporary concrete construction. The form is determined by structural logic and climate response, not aesthetic preference. Beauty, as with the earth buildings, is the ineluctable result.
