TALK & OUTING FEBRUARY 2026
Date: Tuesday 17th February 2025 @ 20:00
Venue: The Athenaeum in Newlands, located at the intersection of Campground Road & Mariendahl Lane.
Drive through Boundary Terrace office park gates, turn left at the top into the dedicated Athenaeum parking area.
Speaker: Pierre Swanepoel
Topic: Contemporary designs for the historical Longkloof Precinct
In 2024, dhk Architects successfully completed a 15-year long, adaptive reuse project at Longkloof Precinct in Gardens, Cape Town.
The heritage buildings which make up the complex were originally the factory and administrative offices of the United Tobacco Company which started in 1904, with the first structure erected in 1905 designed by Jones & McWilliams. The factory was built on part of the grounds of the original Nooitgedacht farm.
A major addition was designed by the architects Parker & Forsyth in 1922. In 1940 the company is said to have employed 4000 workers in this factory!
The project undertaken by dhk comprises the restoration, refurbishment and additions to five historic buildings and the construction of a new hotel for a leading global hotel operator, along with the creation of a large new publicly accessible urban square.
The vision was driven by three core principles: unlock public life, retain and reuse valuable built fabric, and reconnect the precinct into its surrounding city. From the outset, the design acknowledged the existing urban character of the site, with five heritage buildings set in a fragmented precinct, to shape a coherent and legible urban environment. Several significant heritage indicators informed the design and development decisions.
In particular, new buildings needed to respect and not detract from the historic structures The design team retained and adapted the historic buildings, while introducing two contemporary structures for the hotel that respond to scale, massing and materiality of their context. The new hotel sits alongside the historical buildings on a site characterised by extremely irregular, complex geometry unusual for a hotel.
The urban design response fully integrates all erven into one precinct to strengthen their connection to the surrounding context. A key move was the creation of five new pedestrian-friendly public spaces, including a central square that anchors the precinct. These human-scaled spaces establish a permeable, publicly accessible and car-free environment, activated by a dynamic mix of uses. These open spaces create pause points, accommodate day-night activity, and introduce new life into the area, enhancing the community and cultural exchange.
The project won several architectural and development awards in 2025, including Mixed Use Development of the Year and Overall Winner in the SAPOA Awards, Winner of the CIfA Awards, Best Mixed-Use/Precinct Development and Best New Hotel Development in the API Awards. It was also listed on the World Architecture Festival Buildings List in 2025.
Pierre Swanepoel of dhk Architects
Education: Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Bachelor of Architecture (1994) (both University of Cape Town) RIBA part III – University College London, (1999
Pierre’s portfolio covers projects in South Africa, the African continent, the UAE and the United Kingdom, with expertise at all stages, from conceptual designs, design development and construction documentation through to on-site implementation. His track record incorporates a broad portfolio of projects, including new buildings and several adaptive reuse projects on important heritage buildings, along with implementing designs for sustainable and green buildings.
OUTING
Date: Saturday 28th February
Time: 10AM
Place: Longkloof Studios, Kloof Street/ Park Road, Gardens
Pierre Swanepoel will take us around the Longkloof Studios, where we will see the way in which this historic building complex has been adapted to new uses,
From there we will walk down to the Company Gardens in Queen Victoria Street to look at the Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial that has been erected there.
The Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial was inaugurated in the Company’s Garden in January 2025 by Princess Anne, honouring over 1,700 black South African men who served in non-combatant roles during WWI.
Designed by Dean Jay Architects, this poignant, “experiential” memorial features 1,772 individually engraved timber poles, representing a forest that evokes the scale of loss for these previously forgotten soldiers.
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2026 Membership fees are due now – see here for details
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READ THE LATEST VASSA Newsletter FEBRUARY 2026
or access all newsletters in Publications
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A GENTLE REMINDER / CODE OF CONDUCT
TALKS happen on the third Tuesday of a month, at the Athenaeum in Newlands. All are welcome, free of charge.
OUTINGS happen on the last Saturday of a month (usually). Members only.
VASSA outings/excursions usually take us onto exclusive properties, and frequently into private homes – which is a privilege deserving respect and courtesy, and our host’s privacy being safeguarded. Hence our Code of Conduct.
GENERAL
Only paid up members may attend Outings. (Visitors pay the annual price of membership to attend an outing.)
Always wear your VASSA name badge to Outings. It’s a courtesy to fellow members as well as a safety measure to hosts who generously allow us into their homes.
Strictly no pets ever, or children without prior arrangement.
ON ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
On arrival, make sure to sign the register which has a clause that indemnifies VASSA and/or its agents against all injury, loss, damage, costs and/or expenses which you and/or any other person may incur as a result of your participation.
Then, stay close to the leader so that the host can be introduced. Do not wander off before the introduction.
On departure, gather around the leader to thank the host. Do not leave before this.
If you have to leave before the end of the outing, inform the outing leader so that others don’t wait or look for you.
PHOTOGRAPH PROTOCOL
We need to safeguard the privacy of our hosts in this digital age.
Before taking interior photographs, check with the outing leader that this is permitted.
Although we may sometimes be allowed to take interior photos if we have permission from the property owner / occupant, we should use them only for personal or research purposes.
So do not post photographs of any interior on social media – this is deemed a security risk.
And never post images of a location / farm online with either GPS co-ordinates or the name and location / address attached, nor as a caption or other “tag” such as the “check in” option on Facebook.
Some already “public” exterior shots, such as the gateposts or gables, may be used to illustrate posts to social media or to the VASSA Facebook page.
ON THE PROPERTY
Switch off cell phones or put them on ‘silent’.
Do not … Touch anything / Pick up porcelain to check maker’s mark / Take books out of bookcases, etc. / Open closed doors / Sit on the furniture / Use the toilet without asking the host’s permission / Take plant slips from the garden.
Also do not … Engage the host in private conversations while everyone else is milling around / Use the privilege of an outing to organise private business arrangements or return visits with the host / Voice personal comments while on site.
LIMITING NUMBERS
Vassa outings are usually open for all members to attend. However, certain outings may not be able to accommodate a large group of people, in which case numbers are limited to a first come first served basis, and a contact email address is always provided to secure your spot.
If you cannot attend, let the organiser know so that someone else on the waiting list can.
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