Exposed to the cooling sea breezes and with its views of the Indian Ocean, the Berea has been a desirable place to live since the earliest settlement of Durban. In the early 1960s, the suburb was ready for densification and Hallen set the example based on his experience gained while working on Roehampton council estate in London, itself heavily influenced by Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles. The habitable rooms of this medium-rise, elongated block face a favourable north orientation. It is distinguished by a layer of simplexes atop duplex units which open to the garden, while parking is accommodated in a semi-basement.  This block of white-washed, textured finishes and grille bricks to the access-ways is offset by sculptural staircases at both ends.