HOUSE O
HOUSE O
PRIVATE RESIDENCES
"This is a self-contained oasis in the city; with no mountains or sea views in Johannesburg, one has to create one's own habitat." — Anthony Orelowitz.
Completed in 2022, House O is organised around the archetype of the atrium house. A planted courtyard, open to the sky, anchors the plan and is wrapped on all four sides by pavilion-like volumes. Expansive sliding doors and timber screens allow these pavilions to reconfigure at will, turning rooms inside out and drawing garden air deep into the interior.
Landscape is not limited to the centre. Indigenous planting threads through and around the pavilions, giving rise to "secondary courtyards" where the house opens to quiet pockets beneath mature trees. Here, the boundary walls merge with built form, so architecture and garden read as one continuous weave.
Above the main level, rooftop living rooms step up into the leafy canopy, lending the residence the character of a contemporary treehouse. Boundaries blur further: terraces, a reflective lap pool, and a sunken fire pit all sit among the branches, inviting daily communion with foliage and sky.
Materials are tactile and restrained—rough stone, polished concrete, timber cladding—chosen to heighten sensory experience while ageing gracefully in Johannesburg's climate. Deep overhangs, operable glazing, and generous cross-ventilation ensure comfort without reliance on mechanical cooling, reinforcing the home's quietly sustainable ethos.
With 1,800 m² of internal area, House O realises Paragon's vision of an urban sanctuary: an environment where architecture, landscape, and lifestyle converge to create a habitat of tranquillity, flexibility, and understated wonder.
Location: Illovo, Johannesburg, South Africa
Size: 1,800 m²
Completion Year: 2020
Sector: Residential