The Rescue Restoration of the Historic town of Wupperthal
Wupperthal
Heritage and Restoration Architecture
2021
Client: The Moravian Church of South Africa
Wupperthal, established in 1830 as the first Rhenish Mission Station in South-Africa, is a veritable time capsule. On 30 December 2018, a disastrous fire broke out and devastated a substantial part of the kerkwerf and 53 houses. Various organizations were quick to react to donate towards the disaster relief and the reconstruction. Some of the heritage strategies which were applied to all restoration and reconstruction work included:
-Return the historic fabric of the affected buildings to their general appearances before the fire.
-Re-use of surviving historic elements.
-Insertions in the interests of amenity and reduction of future fire risk.
The challenges faced were enormous, however, the building project was completed with a high degree of success.
Photo Credits: Wilhelm van Zyl & Graham Jacobs
