Situated in a tiny plot sandwiched between two leafy villas, this small residential unit is built on an old parking lot purchased to house a small family of farmers in Likasi.

The brief was to build an out of town house for a family based in Lubumbashi for when they visit their farm in Likasi. Regardless of the size and the budget, the unit had to offer a comfortable space. We were asked to design a single-occupancy house that includes all of the basic amenities, the site’s unique shape and narrow access point brought several challenges to the design process from determining spatial placement of programs to planning the construction process.

The ground floor is a mix of semi-public and private spaces notably the approach and parking, the shy entrance guides to an open plan kitchen with an adjacent dining area. The double volume lounge is flanked by a guest bathroom and an en-suite bedroom. The sliding door in the lounge opens to the private garden and pool area.

The elevated floor is accessed via an L shape staircase and contains a versatile lounge/office space and that’s where the second en-suite bedroom is located. Both the lounge/office and bedroom on this floor opens to shaded balconies on both façades of the building.

The striking design elements of the house is the brise-soleil elevated at the full height of the building and mimicking its shape. The brise-soleil is a direct response to the use of elongated windows to satisfy the owner’s desire to have maximum natural light inside. To control the heat gain on the the glazed windows and doors, and to manage direct sunlight, the panels are rotated 30 degrees on the vertical parts of the structure and 10 degrees on the inclined parts following the shape of the roof.