This is the restoration of one of the original farm buildings on Hazendal Wine Estate, and the conversion into an art gallery. Hazendal Wine Estate is one of the oldest wine farms in Stellenbosch and is currently undergoing a multimillion rand redevelopment.
The restoration involved replacing all existing windows, doors, shutters and ironmongery to match the original, repair of the lime plaster finish and the refurbishment of existing joists, rafters and mezzanines. An art gallery is a very specialised type of building in which acoustics, climate control, lighting, fire suppression and the temporary and permanent exhibition of art needs careful consideration. These aspects also need to be carefully considered in terms of the heritage status of the building.
As heritage does not allow any fixing to existing walls, floating wall panels with backlighting were designed for the display of art.