Project type: Architecture

Apr

2020

Lauriston Court

This beautiful Art Deco flat block sits on the ridge above Louis Botha, surrounded by trees and stone pathways. It was designed by Emley and Williamson (of Anstey’s, Wits, and Rand Club fame), and completed in 1936. The renovation aimed to restore some of the original charm of the spaces, while updating the bathrooms and kitchen to contemporary norms.

The designs were driven by the client’s love of strong colour and form. Focusing on geometric, colourful, patterned motifs, the bathrooms and kitchen aimed to bridge the gap between the 1930’s, 1970’s, and 2020. Replacing all the laminate flooring with recycled hardwood parquet created a cohesive floor surface, and the chosen paint colours enhanced the soft spaces, such as the beautiful bay windows.

Completed: 2020

Location: Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa

© Nico van Loggerenberg

Jan

2020

The Ridge Masterplan

A masterplanning proposal for The Ridge school in Westcliff, Johannesburg. After 100 years of development, the school has suffered from many incremental developments without a clear, coherent masterplan.

With a privileged position on a high ridge in central Johannesburg, the school has views, ecological diversity, and interesting geology, but the current disjointed site fails to make maximal use of these possibilities. The plan, conceived with artist and ex-student Marco Cianfanelli, was to create new courtyards, axes, and green plazas. These would allow for more of the site to return to indigenous vegetation, while improving the quality of the built space.

Proposal: 2019

Location: Westcliff, Johannesburg, South Africa

© Nico van Loggerenberg, Marco Cianfanelli

Jan

2020

Greenhouse Pergola

A new outdoor covered space for Rosemary Hill, with heat-treated wooden shading and polycarbonate, to create the fine, dappled light you experience in a young forest.

Based on staggered, thin steel columns, the structure evokes the Eucalyptus copse to the north of the building, and ties the existing building into nature. Existing trees were retained, and pop through the new roof to create a second layer of shade.

Completed: 2019

Location: Rosemary Hill, Pretoria

Size: 200sqm

© Nico van Loggerenberg

Nov

2019

Smuts House

Jul

2019

In progress: WFH

Jul

2019

In progress: ZWAM

Mar

2019

NVOLVE Housing

In 2019, I partnered with Nvolve Technologies to develop a high concept pre-fab housing product. The exact spaces and materials are onfigured online, after which components are built in a controlled factory environment, transported to site, and assembled in less than 3 weeks by a crew of 3 people.

All of the required components and parts needed to assemble a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home will fit on 3 semi-trailer trucks. This process is called 333 – 3 trucks, 3 people, 3 weeks. It is this ease of mobility and transportation that allows homes to be delivered to any part of the country for any variety of needs.

Installation doesn’t require the traditional set of construction sklils, and is closer to assembly of high-end furniture. With the majority of components being manufactured off-site, the need for subcontractors is at a bare minimum. All products are pre-inspected in the Configuration Center to meet the code standards of the destination city and state or province. This allows the assembly of a finished home in 3 weeks – or less.

Proposal: 2019

Location: Texas, USA

© Nico van Loggerenberg, © Nvolve Technologies

Jan

2019

Langa Special Quarters

Langa was the first suburb designated exclusively for Black Africans in Cape Town, and a focal point of resistance and protests to Apartheid-era policies of racial segregation. Near a major crossroads the ruined shells of some of the earliest housing created for migrant workers from the Eastern Cape remain standing. This project is a proposal for those buildings, capping them with a new, lightweight roof, and leaving original wall divisions in place as markers of the original room sizes. With an open program, subject to change, the proposal also uses murals to draw attention to famous residents, resistance movements and artists.

Proposal: 2019

© Nico van Loggerenberg, © Craig McClenghan Architecture

Aug

2018

Greenhouse Cafe

To facilitate the expansion of the popular Rosemary Hill venue outside of Pretoria, an existing building was chosen as the location for a new venue suitable for weddings, parties, and musical events. Once used as a hospice, the building featured a central courtyard enclosed by two disconnected wings.

Taking cues from the design of traditional South African water-towers, the roof structure was designed to enclose this central area, providing a year-round venue space with maximum flexibility. Additionally, a landscape featuring drought and frost resistant indigenous trees was combined with berming, wild grasses, and water capture to create a micro-ecosystem which doubles up as a backdrop for photography.

Additional photography by Mighty Fine and Alexis Muntz

Completed: 2018

Location: Rosemary Hill, Pretoria

Size: 800sqm

© Nico van Loggerenberg

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Jul

2018

Loft Cottage

A small garden cottage designed for a musician and his partner on a long, hilly site in the green Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria.

The central desire was to combine privacy, light and a feeling of space in a very small footprint; while using well-known construction materials in innovative ways. The rear wall forms a solid screen to the existing house, but with perforations for light and air. Protruding bricks in this wall create varied shadow patterns throughout the day and allow creepers ample space to grow, eventually becoming a solid green wall at the bottom of the garden.

The resulting cottage has a flat concrete roof providing cover for a double volume living space, a small kitchen and a mezzanine with sleeping facilities. In addition, it has a shower with floor-to-ceiling glazing open to a miniature Japanese garden, a balcony, and a deck outside for entertaining.

Proposal: 2017