SAOTA and Jaco Booyens Architect win gold at Worldwide Domus Restoration and Conservation Awards

Challenge: Buffelsdrift Farm
Architects: SAOTA & Jaco Booyens Architect
Location: Klein Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa
Images by: Courtesy of SAOTA

Buffelsdrift Farm by SAOTA & Jaco Booyens Architect

The restoration of the ensemble of heritage buildings on Buffelsdrift Farm – by SAOTA and Jaco Booyens Architect – gained the gold medal on the seventh version of the Worldwide Domus Restoration and Conservation Award in Italy. The award, conceived and promoted by the corporate Fassa S.r.l. and by the College of Ferrara, was introduced on-line by way of a dwell streaming occasion on 2 July 2020.

The award recognises “excellence within the discipline of restoration, redevelopment and architectural and panorama restoration at a global stage”. This yr, the awards prolonged to virtually all continents with greater than 73 contributions together with, a number of European and non-European international locations, among the many most distant had been China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, USA and Russia.

Buffelsdrift Farm is situated west of Ladismith within the arid Klein Karoo area of the Western Cape in South Africa. The restoration concerned a cluster of Cape buildings in a valley beneath the Swartberg mountain vary, consisting of a primary home and two barns, plus a retailer. A brief approach off is a flat-roofed constructing, typical of the Ladismith model, which was initially used as a wine retailer. Different buildings on the property embody a up to date shed, a cottage additional up a hill and a graveyard. The home, barns and wine retailer had been all restored.

The Buffelsdrift Farm is a constructing attribute of South African tradition, born by the combination of various cultures and constructing methods. It consists of a number of buildings courting again to the mid-nineteenth century inserted inside a big agricultural property, once more organized and replanted. The unique buildings, made from uncooked earth, had undergone quite a few alterations each in coatings and in covers, and, general, attributable to inconsistent additions. The restoration tended to beat these inconsistencies, returning, nevertheless, to the usage of building methods conventional. The partitions, the place incomplete, had been reinstated with earth uncooked and re-plastered based on native strategies; likewise, an incredible one roof pitch coated with sheet metallic in latest occasions, has been reconfigured based on the unique straw method, made with native plant supplies. The consequence last is especially convincing within the redefinition of the volumes inside a pure panorama that’s an integral a part of the design.

SAOTA director Greg Truen, who acquired the farm in 2016, notes that whereas minor additions and fashionable alterations had been made to the buildings, the unique home, was “in good situation, contemplating” and that the barns had been “essentially untouched”. “We regarded for modern supplies that spoke to the unique supplies,” says Truen. “To honour the heritage of the prevailing buildings, supplies had been rigorously chosen to make sure that slightly of the development historical past is seen, showcasing components of how these buildings had been initially put collectively”, provides Booyens.

Interiors had been accomplished by ARRCC.

The jury awarded two gold medals:

Buffelsdrift: restoration and enhancements – by Jaco Booyens Architect and SAOTA

Restoration of the Façade of the church of Santa Maria Di Nazareth (Vulgo Degli Scalzi) – by Giorgio Forti and Ilaria Forti

-Challenge description and pictures offered by SAOTA

Tags: award, buffelsdrift farm, renovation, SAOTA, South Africa