SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
Dwarsrivier, a sixth-generation Nieuwoudt family farm, serves dual business streams- the award-winning wine production( the " Wine with Altitude "), with its attached craft brewery- and then the ecotourism / accommodation stream.
The cottage, Duikerfontein, was built with the traditional thick walls typical of farmhouses in the Cape in the 1800s – packed cut rocks, sealed with clay to 1.5m height, above which a slightly thinner course of brick and plaster to roof level. Great thermal mass.
The adapted building has been extensively and purposefully rebuilt, retaining all the elements of the original structural elements of the former shepherd’ s hut. Ceilings made from XPS insulation board were installed to help with thermal resistance to heat. Apart from the historical thick walls, the original timber door frames and the doors were reused. Steel windows – added later – were kept, reflecting the hut’ s evolution. Extensions to the existing two separate rooms were done in clear lacquered red face brick.
Now an accommodation cottage with sweeping views of the Wolfberg, it serves business travelers who visit the worldrenowned Cederberg Private Cellar Winery on Dwarsrivier. Local and international wine buyers, along with other visitors, find a warm welcome here after long, gruelling journeys along challenging gravel roads.
About 5km farther along the road into the mountains is the main farm complex where the Cederberg wine farm and hospitality / tourism operations are based. These have received a substantial makeover, while retaining the prevailing heritage / sensitive adaptive reuse theme.
So, what the visitor is seeing in the present day is not a chance ad hoc refurbishment of old buildings, it is actually the implementation of a carefully conceived long-term spatial framework that guides phased interventions over time.
The architects’ intervention
Some twelve years ago, a chance encounter brought two architects together with farm owners David and Cisca Nieuwoudt. Caroline Sohie and Leszek Dobrovolsky of
Early elements of the original building – the rock / lime wall and early generation farm door.
Instinct Architectural Practice(@ instinctarchitecture) wandered into the farm shop while hiking, sparking a serendipitous meeting that would shape the farm’ s future.
They asked about the farm and its history, exchanged views and later that same year the Cederberg Wine Cellar and accommodation upgrade project was underway. Since then, as Sohie puts it, the relationship is primarily direct and highly engaged.“ We work closely with David Nieuwoudt as custodian of the farm, with regular input from the operational and production teams where relevant.”
Instinct, with a presence in Cape Town, London and Belgium, is a niche practice offering expertise in the South African region involving legacy landscapes – those shaped by layered histories, productive economies, and social memory.
Sohie, a co-director of the practice, explains:“ It began with a strategic reading of the entire farm and winery precinct – spatially, historically, environmentally, and operationally. It was a real assemblage of buildings that had been built through the generations. So, what we conceptualised was how to create the most cost-effective way to‘ wrap’ these buildings in effect … So that’ s the journey we started on.”
Preservation( of legacy buildings) is not treated as static conservation, but as adaptive reuse …
Co-director, Dobrovolsky continues:“ While we did not formally propose a conventional masterplan in the rigid sense, the process established a long-term spatial framework that guides phased interventions over time.
“ The intention was to consolidate wine production, improve operational efficiency, and unlock the experiential and cultural dimensions of the property, without erasing its working-farm identity. The process has been iterative and collaborative – research and mapping, followed by prioritisation of urgent interventions, then only moving into the sequenced architectural projects,” he adds.
“ Preservation( of legacy buildings) is not treated as static conservation, but as adaptive reuse – allowing buildings to continue evolving while retaining their material honesty and spatial character,” says Sohie.
www. tobuild. co. za | autumn 2026 53