Tag: timber

  • Southern Hide

    Southern Hide

    A beautiful timber house on the edge of the ocean, overlooking False Bay towards Hangklip. Extremely difficult access and a sensitive environment made this one of the most challenging builds we have ever undertaken.

    This was a completely new build. An existing dwelling had to be demolished and all materials removed from the site before construction could begin.

    Access to the house is on foot, as there is no road to the property. To transport building materials to the site, we contracted a professional rigging company to construct a zipline from the road, 800m away, to a landing zone. From there, every item had to be carried a further 100m to the house.

    The house combines a sugar gum structure, clad in sugar gum planks, with a brick, mortar and concrete base. Rock was used on the exterior, all of it sourced from the excavation process.

    The result is a carefully crafted timber home that responds to both its extraordinary setting and the challenges of building within a sensitive coastal environment.

    Constructing this iconic house at Smitswinkel bay was enthusiastically and professionally done by Ecowerks. Arguably one of the most challenging locations to build, Regardt and his team’s tireless work ethos brought to life this highly crafted and detailed family holiday home.  Their resourcefulness, attention to detail, honesty and skill makes working with Ecowerks a pleasure. I look forward to working with you again soon.

    Justin Cooke – architect

    We can’t recommend Ecowerks highly enough. Regardt and his crew rebuilt our beach house on an environmentally sensitive and genuinely difficult site, and they handled it with total professionalism from start to finish.

    Communication was outstanding throughout. Regardt was always available when issues came up, and problems got dealt with quickly rather than left to fester. The whole team treated the site with real care and respect, which mattered a lot given the constraints we were building under.

    The finished product is exceptional. If you’re looking for a builder who does things properly, this is who you appoint.

    Mark Tanton – client

  • Strawbale House

    Strawbale House

    Our task here was to renovate and add onto this 20-year-old strawbale house in Scarborough. The first task was to determine the state of the wall structure. Upon inspection we learned that the bales in the walls were mostly rotten, due to a cement plaster being applied in the past, and water ingress, leading to rot. We had to rebuild and strengthen most of the walls and make provision for the building of a new timber frame and hemp addition. 

    Materials used here include strawbale with clay plaster interior and lime plaster exterior. Timber frame with timber cladding exterior and hemp/lime plaster interior. Rock was used to make the exterior entertainment area plus steps to the garden.

    By doing this we not only added value to the home but also lengthened the time that this building will last for future generations to enjoy.

  • Laing’s House

    Laing’s House

    We were contacted by the client to come inspect an old abandoned labourer cottage on their farm in the Overberg. The roof was completely gone with some walls busy falling over. The one room even had a tree growing out of it. The walls were built with unfired clay bricks that were made on site about 100 years ago.

    Our plan was to rebuild the house using entirely locally sourced materials from the farm. We started by clearing the inside of the building and identifying the walls that need repairing. We then used the fallen bricks and bricks sourced from other buildings on the farm to rebuild the walls. The doors and windows were bought from a second-hand salvage yard in Hermanus, all teak and Oregon pine. The roof structure we built with gum I cut from the farm, dried in the shed and debarked by us. The walls and floors were made with local clays and cow manure from the farm.  

    What we ended up with was a beautiful little cottage made with completely natural materials from the area. We gave this building a new life and the owner is still enjoying this 100+ year old building – and will be for generations to come.