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Boardwalk Empire

The walkway at Julian Treger?s coastal home is an impressive construction

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By Houseandgarden.co.za | January 2, 2018 | Gardens

Snaking through and above the indigenous flora, the walkway at Julian Treger’s coastal home is an impressive construction that was well worth the wait.

Getting to the beach quickly is a prerequisite for a successful beach house.

Unfortunately, due to its location and the number of protected milkwood trees, amongst other sensitive species, that was not possible at my Plettenberg Bay home, K Cottage, when it was completed. 

Instead we had to make do with an old path through the coastal thicket which avoided these trees and which involved lots of climbing up and down and frequent scratches. 

Eventually however, after a few years, and with the assistance of expert environmental consultant, Peet Joubert, we did get permission from the authorities to build a walkway to get to the waves.

The next issue was the look and feel. The house has almost no straight lines and is designed to undulate with the dunes and hills in a natural way that recalls the development of twentieth century organic architecture, starting with Gaudi through to Frank Lloyd Wright, Oscar Niemeyer and John Lautner and ending with Dame Zaha Hadid. 

So straight lines were out of the question. Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, who designed the original house, were enlisted to help and came up with the idea of a treetop skywalk that was suspended midair in sections, inspired by the examples at Kew Gardens and Kirstenbosch

The walkway at Julian Treger’s Plettenberg bay home undulates down to the beach and mimics the curves of the home’s architecture. A seating area was created midway.

The seating areas are scattered throughout the walkway

An aerial view of the walkway.

Looking up at a suspended section of the walkway above treetop level

The platform at the end of the boardwalk is used for tanning, rinsing off after a swim and sundowners.

Showing the curved railing which recalls the edge of a yacht.

For more info, contact Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens: 082 900 9935 

Read the full story in the January issue of House & Garden magazine

Photography

Greg Cox

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