MODERN EDGE

With white walls and slate flooring throughout, the home works as a gallery for Julian Treger’s furniture and art collection. In the sitting room, Jeanneret's Chandigarh chairs meet modern pieces including B&B Italia armchairs, side tables by Percival Lafer and a sculptural coffee table by Willy Rizzo; the lamps are by Harry Balmer for Laurel

現代喜悅

全屋以白牆和板條地板成主導，作為擺放Julian Treger傢具和藝術收藏的藝廊。客廳放有Jeanneret的Chandigarh椅和現代作品，如B&B Italia扶手椅、Percival Lafer邊桌和Willy Rizzo的雕塑風咖啡桌；燈具由Harry Balmer為Laurel設計

From the meadow, you pass a pool and descend a few stairs onto a deck. "Then the surroundings really disappear, because you are enveloped by the white walls of the house," says Christiaan. "The idea was that there would be a compression of space, a closing off. Only once you enter the house do you get a glimpse of the view beyond – and then as you work your way towards the deck in front, it just expands and blows your mind."

The house belongs to South African-born British investor Julian Treger. "The landscape falls 1,000 feet, and you have caves and birds below you," says Julian. "Sometimes you wake up and the cloud level is below the house." There isn’t another building as far as the eye can see, and indigenous fynbos vegetation covers the meadows and ravines as they fade from view, transforming into layer upon layer of the receding Tsitsikamma mountains.

The site had been abandoned for about a decade and was only inhabited by an incomplete building – Julian describes it as a "square, minimal sort of ’70s Case Study House type design" – when he first took Christiaan there. "The whole place was overrun and overgrown," adds Christiaan. Given its position, however, Julian says, "It was natural to build onto that."

Christiaan set about devising a design for the house. "Instead of trying to fight the language that had already been established, we tried to enhance those qualities," he says. "We inscribed a rectangle across the entire house, using the front of the existing structure, and worked our way back onto the escarpment. The rectangle was then broken up into a series of courtyards."

從草原進發，你會經過泳池，再沿著樓梯往下走數步便會到臨平台。「四圍環境立時消失，因為你已被房子的白牆重重包圍。」Christiaan指：「概念就是一開始會有封閉空間壓迫感。只有走進房內，才能遠眺遠方景色——然後再走到前方平台，就會發現景色一直延伸開去，叫人驚訝。」

房子屬生於南非的英國投資人Julian Treger擁有。「景色往下沉1,000呎，山洞、鳥子紛紛在你腳下。」Julian指：「有時候，睡醒起床就會見到雲兒剛好停在房子的水平。」眼見四周不會再見一幢如此樓房建築，取而代之的是覆蓋著草原和山峽的連綿天然灌木林植物，再一層一層地組出位處後方的Tsitsikamma山脈。