This Beach House on the KZN North Coast was commissioned by a group of Zululand Shareholders, one of whom being Kevin Dicks of Dicks Construction, our builder extraordinaire, who is also my partner.

We both had many hats to wear, satisfying 8 clients while keeping the project within budget. We were presented with an existing old crumbly beach cottage on difficult sloping site with massive ground water issues. We designed a generous driveway cut back into the slope allowing us to incorporate a double stormwater system, with the bonus of ample parking, which was part of the brief.

Our engineer, Freek Pretorius, designed a beautiful exposed steel beam spanning 14m along the front verandah, which has entirely operable frameless glass walls that provide flexibility and maintain the incredible views. It feels like being on a ship!

The highlight of this design is that there is a space and a room with a view for everyone. The seaside home is part of an exclusive holiday rental business and is set on a picturesque stand on the edge of the warm Indian Ocean.