RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION: BOUTIQUE HOTEL Part 1 Project 2005 Bouwer Serfontein Tshwane University of Technology Pretoria | South Africa The project addresses the relationship between architecture, urban [revolution] sprawl and social need. It defines a new approach to the reconstruction of an existing building and the urban fabric, damaged by rapid development. It transforms a former residence, situated adjacent to an icon building, into a sophisticated small boutique hotel in suburbia. Intelligent conversion and the redesign of spaces has become the main concern. It explores the notion of recycling existing material in a sustainable way without compromising the functional nature of the design. It is a search for a regional architectural language. A hotel was used to explore, through architecture, the meaning of a language. Karel Jooste had a link to Le Corbusier and used his language of Jaoul House to build his home. The language was not a copy, it had its own variations. The house is now used as restaurant and a hotel seemed the logical extension. A myriad of information on the master seemed the ideal opportunity for exploration, but not to become a disciple, instead to understand the existing house through study and then to bring in a new interpretation of the meaning behind form and technical resolution.