Bon Milieu
Bon Milieu is the title and notion of a sanctuary created for true personal privacy and value of ecological beauty. It is situated in the verdant valleys of the Waterval Onder region, a mountainous plot rich in flora and fauna, measuring approximately 60 hectares of land. It is divided into 24 stands of 3600sqm. The current prototypical concept-design captures the entirety of what is endeavoured as a luxury home in Bon Milieu.
Every aspect of the house is prerequisite to the functions of the house. Its beauty lies in its minimalist simplicity, adorned in purpose and modern amenity. The determining motives of the design are concerned with the orientation of the house and the flow of the land. From these fundamentals comes the conceptual idea of form vs. function. The primary concern of orientation here is view-facing – to capture the vista. The house is designed to become expansive towards the view, opening up to embrace the panorama. The grade of the land aids in this by accentuating the elevation of the house; as it slopes down, the house opens outward horizontally and then drops vertically to create height and massing. the design of the house is one secondary to the flow of the land. The roof line changes and accommodates the gradient in an effort to form an ancillary flow of house to land and environment. This also creates a progression – a further ancillary quality – from one side of the house, one promoting intimacy, to the other, opening expansively towards the view.
Since the orientation is set towards the view versus true north, therefore not orientated towards the sun’s predominant arc, the design course follows a necessity of capturing light and heat in the Winter and shading in the Summer using strategic screening devices. The house is planned in two parts: the first is the intimate part, characteristically shaped like a “U” as the rooms circulate around an outdoor atrium.
The atrium allows the house to defragment in an effort to create north-facing façades within the centre of the building. These are lined with windows to let in the light and heat of the sun and to create an access of ventilation throughout. As a further design of convenience and function, the atrium creates a homogeneous flow of "house to land to house" and an area of beauty and peace. The second part of the house, linked and juxtaposed by an arrival and movement axis, is an extrovert expression of openness. The homogeneous flow of the house in accordance to the land is also evident where the roof shapes itself to the gradient and its pilasters add a uniform continuity to the slope.
All these qualities are indispensable to embodying the notion of Bon Milieu. This prototype is firm in consolidating land and luxury shelter in all its correct proportions and necessity. By offering minimalist qualities both innovative and pragmatic, it equates land and home to produce an atmosphere of peace, privacy and oneness with ecological beauty.