CEDERBERG GARDEN

GUEST FARM | CLANWILLIAM

The area around Clanwilliam, in the Cedarberg region of South Africa, is known for its diversity and abundance of endemic wild flowers during late winter and early spring – a major attraction for tourists.

For this project, we worked closely for the Bergh family to transform what was once a farm manager’s house into a guest lodge, celebrating the unique context of the area by removing all traces of suburban planting. We brought the natural vegetation right up to the buildings, allowing guests to experience the intensity of this rugged landscape.

Intentionally going against the idea of the garden as an “oasis”, which would be the traditional way of gardening in these arid to semi arid regions, we wanted guests to experience the natural landscape up close.

The pool and lawn form part of the architecture, whilst the rest of the planting connects the buildings to the larger landscape. In the areas where the previous garden altered the subsoil conditions through over-fertilisation and removal of topsoil and seedbeds, we introduced indigenous grasses as the linking element between veld and architecture.