THE MANY LIVES OF BUFFLESDRIFT

 Award-winning architect, Jaco Booysens,

Buffelsdrift farm, west of Ladismith inthe arid Klein Karoo region of the Western Cape, was originally a circularfarm, typical of the time. Licences to graze livestock on the land dateback to the mid-1700s. The date and initials IWDV, (Isak Wilhelm van derVyver), are inscribed above the door of the farmhouse. The Van der Vyverfamily first leased the farm as far back as 1768. 

The restoration of the ensemble of heritage buildings onBuffelsdrift, by SAOTA (Stefan Antoni, Philip Olmesdahl and Greg TruenArchitects) and our speaker, architect Jaco Booyens, won the gold medalat the seventh edition  of the international Domus Restoration andConservation Award in Italy (2019). The award recognises“excellence in the field of restoration, redevelopment and architectural andlandscape recovery at an international level”.

Jaco will take us through the restoration of the variousbuildings on the farm accompanied by beautiful illustrations of thethe buildings. This will be a really interesting talk demonstrating howheritage buildings can be restored to their glorious past yet encompass modernliving. 

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