Kenrock Country Estate comprises 94 houses situated in an indigenous landscaped environment, set on the foothills of Table Mountain in Hout Bay, where the rising slopes offer vistas to the valley below and the Table Mountain range above. The focal points of the landscape area are forests, dams and wetlands within the private open space of the Estate. The new residences had to conform to a very detailed architectural design manual. Although there are obvious restrictions, some of them quite limiting, the idea behind the development was to strive to create an environment where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The intention of the design manual was to ensure that the overall character of the development is identifiable by the use of certain unifying external elements. House Bray is situated on one of the few rural stands on over an acre of land on the upper slopes of the Estate. Although the site was quite steep, it was important to achieve a level living area for easy flow and indoor/outdoor transition. As such all the living and bedroom areas of House Bray are on one level, leaving the void beneath to be filled with the garage, wine cellar, home theatre and storerooms. The building envelope itself comprises a series of nine pavilions arranged around courtyards, reflective pools and the swimming pool with its own gazebo. Due to the design restrictions, the east and west end gables are quite conservative in nature made of conventional brickwork and plaster. In contrast, however, the north and south facades of the pavilions are made entirely of timber, glass and steel, resulting in the house not having an obvious front or back. A total of ten individual homes on the estate were designed by the practice varying in size from 400sq.m to 1000sq.m.