Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa May/June 2015 | Page 12

NEWSWORTHY

COROBRIK COLLABORATES TO
RESTORE GOVERNMENT HOUSE

A collaboration of passion and
expertise resulted in the successful
R20m restoration of the 167-yearold Government House in Pietermaritzburg. After acquiring the
building in 2010 to house their
regional campus, UNISA contracted
a team of experts to restore and
renovate this beautiful national
monument which had fallen into a
state of disrepair.
Leading heritage and conservation
architect, Robert J W Brusse, was
appointed to the project in 2004
to oversee the restoration of the
building and there then followed
8 years of planning, investigation
and research. Only once all the
groundwork and preparation had
been done did Brusse, in 2012,
approach Corobrik to assist in the
replacement of 1,775 bricks which
had to be especially manufactured
for the project.
Many of the 29 special shapes
that were produced for the
restoration project had not been
previously made at a Corobrik
facility a