House Bertie-Roberts

Abstract

House Bertie-Roberts (1966) is located in Camps Bay, on an exposed rocky corner site. The entrance route from below is guided by the sides of garden retaining walls that lead under a cantilevered edge of the house above. Here ground and house meet in an open riser staircase slung along the side of a concrete retaining wall. The house literally hovers between earth and sky as the box form, carried on two concrete u-shaped channels, cantilevers over stone and concrete retaining walls. The building is grounded by its walled connection to the earth. Structural and functional efficiency is expressed by the cantilevered concrete beams supporting the building while acting as service ducts. The position of the chimney visually assists in a supporting role. In this house the first evidence of Fagan’s creation of private spaces outside bedrooms can be seen, where the cupboard areas are extended externally to create private recesses.