Page 6 - Landscape-Issue160

PROJECT

LA MOTTE HISTORIC

FARM PRECINCT

La Motte Wine Estate outside Franschhoek is a historic Cape Dutch werf and home
to four provincial monuments. The werf used to be private and screened from public

view but the client decided to open it to the public, and make it more accessible.

F ollowing a CNDV Landscape
design
successful
competition,
were
appointed
to
Architects
reimagine the gardens, open the farm
both physically and symbolically and
invite people to enjoy its heritage, art
and natural beauty. The brief called for
a design that would honour the estate’s
300 year old heritage while enhancing
its role as a contemporary cultural and
hospitality destination.
The vision focused on restoring the
clarity and simplicity of the historic Cape
Dutch werf by re-establishing spatial rela-
tionships between key heritage buildings
and their surroundings. The landscape
was required to provide an appropriate
setting for the heritage buildings, as well
as meeting contemporary expectations
for accessibility.
The gardens needed to reflect
heritage principles through sensitive
plant selection, informal layouts and
appropriate materials, while also offering
year-round visual interest with mainly
indigenous, water wise planting.
A key aspect of the brief was to create
a layered visitor experience, integrating
sculpture, play and accessible routes,
while ensuring long-term sustainability
through soil re-use, coordinated irrigation
with the vineyard systems and a transition
to in-house landscape maintenance.
Design response
This required a radical yet considered
approach, as years of layered additions
in the form of brick paving, formal rose
gardens, decorative fencing and dense
plantings had obscured the original
structure and spatial clarity of the werf.
Many of these features were out of place
with the historic Cape Dutch context and
detracted from the architectural presence
Project Team of key buildings, namely the Manor House
Client: La Motte Farm of 1758, the Jonkershuis of 1752, the
Project Manager and Architect: Malherbe Rust Architects historic cellar of 1782 and the water mill.
Main Contractor: CSV Construction CNDV’s strategy was to restore the
Landscape Architect: CNDV Landscape Architects werf’s integrity, reshape the land to open
Landscape Contractor: DDS Projects up views, and carefully relocate mature
Heritage Consultant: Anne-Marie Fick trees to form a forested buffer that
screens service areas from public zones.
Sightlines between buildings were re-
established, reinforcing the traditional
Wine bearer sculpture hierarchy and flow of the werf layout.
A simplified, mainly indigenous

4 Landscape SA • Issue 160 2025 Check us out www.salandscape.co.za