Residential Development
Montagu, Western Cape, South Africa
2022 – Concept
The Montagu River cottages form part of a larger development scheme situated alongside the Kingna River. A variety of housing typologies needed to be designed to cater for a wide selection of home owners looking for property in the area. Housing typologies A and B are medium sized family homes of between 128 m2 and 178 m2. There are two options - either 2-bedrooms / 2-bathrooms or 3-bedrooms / 3-bathrooms. The idea of grouping these houses along the street edge is a device used to encourage community engagement and a better street life inside the estate.
Housing typology C are small semi-detached family homes – 115 m2 sized units, comprisingof 2-bedrooms / 2-bathrooms. These are perfect for young families entering the property market.
The development has 12 large erven which have been allocated to Farm Houses. These are large homes with productive fruit and vegetable gardens. These houses have 3 large bedrooms with bathrooms and larger entertainment areas
The client’s brief was to design suitable buildings that blend into the Montagu townscape. The project team took clues from the town’s existing heritage buildings. Some ideas that were explored were: the use of low “werf” garden walls, stonework, ‘lei water’ water channels (found in many small farming towns), materials such as thatch, Victorian-profiled roofs, white lime-washed walls, simple gabled ends, historical green paintwork. All these elements create a collection of buildings that suits this location.
Material pallet options were also looked at to create variation between all the housing typologies. Cool coloured stonework combined with a warm thatched roof versus warm coloured stonework with cool grey Victorian roof sheeting are the two material pallet options buyers can choose from. A second variation that new homeowners can choose, is the front stoep configuration. Option 1 is an open stoep with a simple pergola and small canopy structure. Option 2 is a semi-enclosed stoep with a solid roof and folding-stacking windows and glazed doors. These small variations create visual interest and a richer street environment.
Various community facilities have been planned for the estate. These include a clubhouse, a swimming pool, communal vegetable gardens, playgrounds, fields and tennis courts. The status of this project is currently being costed.