It takes a family of visionary designers to create a home like this | FULL INTERVIEW

This week’s location was created in much the same way that a band jams and creates music. If each room in the house was a member in the band then it is how these rooms related to one other which resulted in the final design. Italian designer Georgio Armani insists that to create something exceptional, your mind must be relentlessly focused on the smallest details. Which was how husband and wife design team Rudolph and Phia Van der Meulen built their home – from the ground up. At the entrance is a figure sculpted in steel, as a metaphor for how vulnerable human emotions can be. The main living area is made up of a double volume family room that connects through to the open plan kitchen and covered terrace. With the stacking doors open, it becomes one large indoor, outdoor entertaining space. The use of screens allows the mood of the dining room or kitchen to be transformed in seconds between relaxed and open to intimate and sophisticated - then returned just as easily. This level of detail shows how not a day was wasted in the four years of design and building it took to create this house. Which includes cupboards, custom made and imported from Italy. The pool, spa and entire home are heated and cooled by a geothermal system fed from boreholes a hundred metres below and from above, by solar panels on the roof. This is an incredibly practical, self-sustaining home. The LED lit staircase in concrete and wood is cantilevered from the wall. The bed has a Japanese serenity to it, an artistically offset, light coloured rug contrasting with the drama of the bathroom. With it’s timber slat framing and the bath and shower positioned for morning and winter sun, it’s a treat to start your day here before choosing your outfit in spacious, his and hers dressing rooms. As designer accessories go, this house beats them all and what a testament to South African style. http://www.topbilling.com/