Babylonstoren

Project Details:

Value: R14.7m
Date: 2010
Client: Babylonstoren
Architect: Malherbe Rust Architects

Babylonstoren is one of the oldest farms in the Drakenstein Valley and dates back to the late seventeenth century. It is still a working farm, but also a popular tourist destination with the farm’s historical farmstead, guesthouse, restaurants, deli and food garden attracting thousands of visitors every year.

In 2010 Isipani Construction completed two new builds — a wine cellar and a maturation store. The buildings were designed to harmonise with the estate’s old wine cellar and other historic buildings and were constructed opposite one another to reflect the traditional orientation of outbuildings on many old Cape Dutch farmsteads. Although the two buildings were designed to look very similar on the outside, they had very different inner structures.

The maturation store was built on two levels with a basement and a ground floor. The basement level required bulk excavation to an average depth of five metres; the structure was then built up from the raft-slab cast at the base. In contrast, the wine and blending cellar was built on one level with two mezzanine floors for offices and staff areas. One of the main challenges of the project was the pressure to complete the buildings before the approaching grape harvest.