First sketches by Penny Vorster from Liminal Architects
5 March 2026
A few weeks ago, we got our first sketches from our architect, Penny Vorster. I'll share more about her in a following up post, but she's heading up Liminal Architects, based in Wilderness, Garden Route.
To create these, she walked the land multiple times to get a lay of the land and its vegetation. She also drove by at different times of the day to get a sense of how the sun moves and what the light is like at dusk and at dawn.
These are the primary drivers of feeling, so it made me happy that we started here.
Budget as the first design
Before we began working with her, I created a design brief to help set the tone and direction of the place. It contains the vision, style, mood and, importantly, the budget.
We have a limited budget, but compromising on the quality was not an option, so we decided to rather keep the villa small, around 75sqm. Being small on purpose is great: it creates clear constraints on the sizes of the rooms and the shape of the house. This has a direct impact on the feeling people have, so the budget is ultimately the first iteration of any place.
Her first sketches include the initial shape and configuration of the house, but these aren’t set yet.
Design patterns as a toolkit
If you look closely at the sketches, you’ll see little notes on patterns we’re intentionally using to help inspire a feeling of aliveness. We’ve been collecting these for a while as a kind of toolkit.
For example, 3 of the patterns she scribbled down are:
Intimacy Gradients that guide movement
Positive Outdoor Spaces that invite lingering, and
Half-open Walls that frame views without closing them off
In practice, this means you’ll move gradually from public to more private spaces, have small outdoor pockets where you naturally want to pause, and views that are framed rather than feeling like a big glass wall.
There are 300+ patterns to pick from, and as a way to learn them more deeply, I’ve now started a new Instagram series where I’ll break down dozens of them. If you're on Instagram, you can follow along — here's the first one on creating an eating atsmosphere.
The role of slopes & contours
You’ll also notice that we’re already considering the role of the slope and contours and how they create a sense of feeling. The slope naturally has an effect on the height of ceilings, terraces and walkways, which in turn affects how you move through the place and where the private and public spaces are.
Rituals as an experience
One other thing that is important to us is to create spaces that inspire rituals. On the north side of the plot, you’ll see a garden with some decking connected with a footpath to the house. We imagine this will intentionally create a ritual around waking up in the morning, making coffee, walking down barefoot, and soaking up nature before the day really starts.
What to do with the rockface?
One of the most striking features of Stilkrans is its majestic rockface. This is what led us to its name. It would be obvious to make it part of the whole experience, but, ironically, I have no clue how to do this yet. I just know it shouldn’t feel like a backdrop for photos, but something you’re in relationship with while you’re here.
Penny and her team are now turning these into higher fidelity plans + 3D drawings. I’m quite curious to see how the rockface, the smallness of the house, and these early patterns start to show up in those.
First sketches by Penny Vorster from Liminal Architects
5 March 2026
A few weeks ago, we got our first sketches from our architect, Penny Vorster. I'll share more about her in a following up post, but she's heading up Liminal Architects, based in Wilderness, Garden Route.
To create these, she walked the land multiple times to get a lay of the land and its vegetation. She also drove by at different times of the day to get a sense of how the sun moves and what the light is like at dusk and at dawn.
These are the primary drivers of feeling, so it made me happy that we started here.
Budget as the first design
Before we began working with her, I created a design brief to help set the tone and direction of the place. It contains the vision, style, mood and, importantly, the budget.
We have a limited budget, but compromising on the quality was not an option, so we decided to rather keep the villa small, around 75sqm. Being small on purpose is great: it creates clear constraints on the sizes of the rooms and the shape of the house. This has a direct impact on the feeling people have, so the budget is ultimately the first iteration of any place.
Her first sketches include the initial shape and configuration of the house, but these aren’t set yet.
Design patterns as a toolkit
If you look closely at the sketches, you’ll see little notes on patterns we’re intentionally using to help inspire a feeling of aliveness. We’ve been collecting these for a while as a kind of toolkit.
For example, 3 of the patterns she scribbled down are:
Intimacy Gradients that guide movement
Positive Outdoor Spaces that invite lingering, and
Half-open Walls that frame views without closing them off
In practice, this means you’ll move gradually from public to more private spaces, have small outdoor pockets where you naturally want to pause, and views that are framed rather than feeling like a big glass wall.
There are 300+ patterns to pick from, and as a way to learn them more deeply, I’ve now started a new Instagram series where I’ll break down dozens of them. If you're on Instagram, you can follow along — here's the first one on creating an eating atsmosphere.
The role of slopes & contours
You’ll also notice that we’re already considering the role of the slope and contours and how they create a sense of feeling. The slope naturally has an effect on the height of ceilings, terraces and walkways, which in turn affects how you move through the place and where the private and public spaces are.
Rituals as an experience
One other thing that is important to us is to create spaces that inspire rituals. On the north side of the plot, you’ll see a garden with some decking connected with a footpath to the house. We imagine this will intentionally create a ritual around waking up in the morning, making coffee, walking down barefoot, and soaking up nature before the day really starts.
What to do with the rockface?
One of the most striking features of Stilkrans is its majestic rockface. This is what led us to its name. It would be obvious to make it part of the whole experience, but, ironically, I have no clue how to do this yet. I just know it shouldn’t feel like a backdrop for photos, but something you’re in relationship with while you’re here.
Penny and her team are now turning these into higher fidelity plans + 3D drawings. I’m quite curious to see how the rockface, the smallness of the house, and these early patterns start to show up in those.
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