Comprising of two “burrowed” buildings nestled and integrated within colourful indigenous
plantings, lawns, extensive grassland and woodland landscapes.
The landscape gardens are spread across three sloping terraces and connected by a curving
pathway, allowing access to the secluded “rooms” and areas of interest within the landscape.
The Breede River valley is renowned as a hot spot for threatened Renosterveld ecosystems, being
fragmented and threated due to agricultural practices and requiring protection and conservation.
The initial brief and concept was the rehabilitation and restoration of the Renosterveld “Nature
Walk” in tandem with Landscape construction.
Vula developed a highly specialised and site specific rehabilitation plan and framework
considering the local ecology, soil types and climatic constraints with a three-year successional
program, with maintenance integrated into the rehabilitative landscaping as part of the active
restoration process for the Renosterveld “Nature Walk”
Landscaping involved highly specialised hard and soft landscaping, comprising of installing
decking and bridges, very specific landscape compositions and sealing a large retention pond with
Ecca bond bentonite.
“Platforms” of varying submerged heights were built into the dam edges to
allow a range of diverse riparian planting having varying submergent water level requirements,
these platforms also form beneficial habitats for breeding grounds of fish and amphibian life.
Large boulders were the placed in these areas to add interest and offer crevasses and sanctuaries
for aquatic life. Over 26,000, 4kg plants were propagated and grown for the project and
approximately 1600 trees were planting over the course of the project.
