TOP HOUSE

 2019, KNOETZIE, SOUTH AFRICA

The TOP house is located in the ancient indigenous forest of Knoetzie’s upper river. It is a simple yet impeccably crafted space. The building houses a single bedroom, luxurious bathroom and a kitchen that spills out beneath the towering canopy of camphor, candlewood and milkwood trees.
The structure is made from prefabricated CNC components which fit together to make up a skeletal frame which is clad with beechwood planks which clad the frame. This is all connected into a single column, which pins the building lightly into the ground allowing it to hover above the forest floor.
The entrance is from the north and is carved into the slope which is retained with stone walls from the loose rock found on site.
The main façade of the box is a single framed pivoting window which looks over the river flowing into the sea. It is flush glazed to the interior and is at the perfect bar height surface when opened.