Two sides house

This home was designed for three generations of one family to live together—not just side by side, but with shared rhythms and spaces that bring them gently into contact. The footprint is compact, yet the spaces are generous where it matters. Every square metre is considered—for use, and for the financial weight it carries.

The house is built in brick. It brings mass and gravity, but also warmth. It sets the tone: calm, durable, grounded. At the centre, where the two households meet, full-height timber doors open into a brick-paved lobby. The same brick continues from the garden path. It’s a space to arrive, to pause, to feel held.

A wide passage runs along the northern edge of the ground floor. It links the living room, the bookshelf and stair, and the kitchen before opening out to the verandah. This is more than a hallway—it becomes part of the rooms it passes. The openings along its length are always in conversation with the spaces beyond. Where the bookshelf sits, the window bay deepens into a sunlit daybed. You pass through the bookshelf to reach the stair. Upstairs, the passage widens into a pyjama lounge—a quiet place to wind down together.

There is no leftover space. Every corner invites use.
The two sides of the house meet again at the upper terrace, overlooking a Gingko tree planted by the parents years ago. It has become a living anchor, a quiet centrepiece that ties generations together. The house acknowledges this with care, offering views and moments that reconnect the family with its presence.

Built with restraint and grounded in honest materials, the architecture does more with less. It connects lives across time and generations.







Client testimonial

The architects have successfully designed a home for us that speaks to our love for comfort
and design. We wanted a house that felt comfortable, homely and welcoming while still
feeling modern and aesthetically pleasing and that’s what we have, a home that we can find
refuge in at the end of every day amongst the bustle of Johannesburg. We love the simplicity of the lines, the attention to detail and how the architects have accomplished a synchronicity between form and function.

We also love the flow of the house. There was careful consideration of how each space would be utitlised and how it would flow into the next space. 
There is no space in the house that is not being used/unoccupied. Our home feels
bigger than it actually is because of this and we love that aspect. It’s modern, simple and
unusual in it’s design, we love that it feels uniquely ours and we are proud to show it off.




      
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