A suburban South African home gets a modern upgrade

Johannes van Graan Johannes van Graan
House De Necker, Free State, Bloemfontein, Smit Architects Smit Architects
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From west to east and Scandinavia to Japan, homify brings you noteworthy architectural creations for your inspiration – and viewing pleasure. Today’s homify 360° discovery takes us to Bloemfontein, located in the Free State, South Africa, where an architect duo make it their mission to design upscale domestic residences. 

With a firm belief in modern principles, these creators of stylish structures also take the relevant locations into consideration, letting climate, materials, colours, and region-appropriate features guide them in their designs.

Let’s take a look at one of their mini renovations.

The pre-transformation look

A regular house in a regular suburb in South Africa – not necessarily a bad thing, although a lot of potential can be seen in this front façade. And evidently the architectural team also saw some stylish promise before they kicked off their renovation project. 

Lots of garden- and lawn space, and a house that is clearly not too small – but it’s missing that certain something that makes people stop and stare.

The new façade

Clearly our architectural team know the importance and eye-catching pizzazz of exposed brick, for they used a generous amount of it in their transformation. 

Raw and exposed brick, in that earthy red tone we all know and love, now takes control of the house’s front side. In addition, the garage and main house were linked up through a hallway, and we can also see that the original structure’s porch has now become part of the interiors (located on the far right). 

Looks like a modern little garden has also been added in, neatly framing the walkway from the garage to the newly added room on the right.

A different point of view

Shifting our perception ever so slightly, we can see the other side of the house – the garage and car port area. But what really gets our attention in this image is the newly added cantilevered pergola in the front: wooden beams balancing beautifully on brick-clad structures that lead up to the front entrance. 

Need an architect or gardener? How about a carpenter or kitchen planner? Our list of professionals can help you out…

The new interiors

Time to get a quick look at that new room that was added inside – and it would seem that it’s a dining room, sharing its open-plan layout with the house’s original living room section. 

Notice the decadent dose of sunshine seeping inside, thanks to the new windows  that dominate the new volume from all sides.

Most definitely a renovation that looks small upon first glance, but makes a massive (and quite stylish) difference. 

Want to see some more fabulous facelifts? Then take a look at: A Terrific Small Apartment Transformation.

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