Groot Constantia

Groot Constantia Estate

‘Groot Constantia was a huge restoration project in the 1990s. Revel Fox was the appointed architect and Ian Ford was the appointed landscape architect.

Unlike Vergelegen, which is more floral, delicate and ‘pretty’ in its landscape, Groot Constantia is quite strong, robust and fundamental in its design, with its white walls, gravel, lawns and trees. Vergelegen was established by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, whereas Groot Constantia was established by his father, Simon van der Stel. The two estates are completely different in personality, but they have the same key elements of design.

At Groot Constantia you’ve got the secondary buildings framing and supporting the centrepiece, which is the manor house. In most farms, the flanking buildings are less elaborate – they’re designed to be subordinate. At Groot Constantia, they only occur on side of the ‘werf’ so as not to disturb the views down towards False Bay, but there’s still the framing of that werf space with the low walls, which are typically Cape Vernacular. Everything is aligned axially – along a central axis, and balanced about this axis. More important than the buildings themselves are the spaces they contain and frame – and their relationship to the broader landscape and the agricultural patterns beyond. Understanding how people settle and make place within that context and then applying this inderstanding in a contemporary sense is where design really comes into play. To me, this is where Ian Ford displays absolute genius.’ – David Gibbs

 

Title
eng Groot Constantia Estate
Description
eng Schematic Planning Layout: this hand-drawn, landscape sketch plan drawing, using pen and ink on tracing paper, shows the general landscape planning layout of the Historic Farm Werf of the Groot Constantia Wine Estate, Groot Constantia Road, Cape Town, South Africa. The drawing indicates existing and proposed buildings and vegetation, as well as existing and proposed pedestrian and vehicular circulation and parking,
Creator
eng Ford, Ian
Date Created
1 July 1988
Source
eng 139136_ianford_grootconstantia_jul1988_002.jpg
Subject
eng Wine estates
eng Groot Constantia (Cape Town\
eng South Africa)
eng Historic farms--South Africa--Cape Town--Design and plans
eng Historic farms--Conservation and restoration--South Africa--Cape Town
eng Wineries--South Africa--Cape Town--Design and plans
eng Landscape architecture--South Africa--Cape Town
Spatial Coverage
eng South Africa
eng Western Cape, Province of the
eng Cape Town
Type
Still Image
Format
eng Landscape architecture drawings
eng Landscaping plans,
License
Copyright
Publisher
eng University of Cape Town. Libraries
Rights
eng Copyright held by Ian Ford Deon Bronkhorst Landscape Architects
Replaces
eng islandora:22448
Medium
eng Scale 1:1000 (approx) on A1 size.

Item sets

Ian Ford