House Janse van Vuren, Serengeti
House Janse van Vuren, is a luxury villa designed by Carlu Swart, the founder architect of Draw Box Design Studio. The villa is built on a 1 200m² rectangular site that is located in the Serengeti golf and wildlife estate in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, South Africa. Mr. Swart prefers using wood materials as part of his projects when ever possible, and he has gained positive experience in thermowood’s performance in South Africa’s demanding climate, where most wood materials simply do not work.
Privacy and shade
The ground floor plan of the 500m² family home is organised in the form of an L which allowes optimal Northern exposure along the longer east-west axis while maximising visual access toward the green spaces to the east for the living areas. Garages and service areas located along the western – and the street edge, insulate the living areas from the harsh African afternoon sun, while creating privacy to the living areas from the street.
The solar screens of the luxury villa are featuring Lunawood Thermowood. Vertical screens were constructed by means of Luna SHP 42×42 battens equally spaced apart and fixed to a light steel sub-frame throughout the project. Similar to a filter, the screens connect the interior spaces to the outside while simultaneously providing a sense of privacy and shade from the outside.
The battens outside have been left untreated and thus the color will gradually start changing to natural gray. The tone of the grayed thermowood will eventually match the concrete and still add up to the modern look.
Interior screens guide and filter
Lunawood Thermowood has been also used in the interior spaces of the villa in the wall claddings as well as ceilings. The thermowood battens of the walkway balustrade on first floor overlooking the double volume over the kitchen island were extended slightly past the first floor soffit. This notion celebrates and augments the connection between the ground and first floor area. Here the screen acts again as guiding element and filter. It filters, but also signifies and facilitates the spatial transition from the semi-private living spaces on ground floor to the private spaces of the bedrooms upstairs.
