PROJECTS
(Right): Electric lamps mounted in some of the semi-arched steel frames light up the refurbished section of Longmarket St at night. (Below): Red Granary Cobbles and an artistic steel framework combine well at the made-over courtyard of the Old Granary.
A section of Longmarket St, one of the oldest thoroughfares in Cape Town’s
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CBD, has been transformed from a commonplace walk way into an eyecatching urban space. The revamped section covers an area of 630m² and is situated between Harrington and Buitenkant Sts, adjacent to the historic and recently refurbished Old Granary building and a mer e stone’s thr ow from one of the city’s major tourist attractions, the Castle of Good Hope. The new layout, which involved the use of wet-cast concrete pavers and the installation of an artistic semiarched steel framework for lighting the thoroughfare, was designed by Gapp Architects. The paving is comprised of 215mm x 50mm cobble-styled blocks (Granary Cobbles) and large flagstone pavers, both custom-made by CMA member, Wellington-based SmartStone.
CUSTOM-MADE PAVERS REVITALISE PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY IN CAPE TOWN
The project highlights Longmarket
T hese include d the nar r ow ness o f
St’s symbolic significance. It is the only
Longmarket St, a blank façade on one
street that runs the full width of the
side with no natural spill-out onto the
City Bowl from Bo-Kaap to District Six
street, a low wall with spikes and lim-
and it parades some of Cape Town’s
ited lighting at night.
oldest buildings. Its importance as a
“On the plus side, the area had an
thoroughfare looks set to intensif y
avenue of well-established trees and
as people move back to District Six,
was part of an emerging neighbourhood,”
resulting in the need for a strong link
says Gapp. “Our design objective was to
with the CBD.
convert the street into an interpretation of an urban garden using existing props
(Above): The revamped Longmarket St showing the Granary Cobbles combined with large flagstone pavers, both made by SmartStone in Wellington.
Challenging surrounds
such as the tr e e s, t oge ther w i th
Gapp A r chitects says the upgrade
elements such as cobbled pavers and
Paving stones
presented several design challenges.
the semi-arched steel framework that
“The largest flagstones measure 2 100 x
we’d used in the Old Granary courtyard
600mm and the smallest 850 x 300mm.
refurbishment project two years before.
The intention was for similar-style paving
“We used Granary Cobbles (in red)
to be used all the way up Longmarket
in the refurbishment of the Old Granary
St,” says Gapp.
courtyard project and it was from that
The paving was laid by Mark Darius
installation that the name ‘Granary
Civils and the semi-arched steel frame-
Cobbles’ was coined by SmartStone. We
work was installed by 53 Power Projects.
used them in charcoal for the Longmarket
The flagstones were reinforced with
St project, where they were of fset
Y10 rebar, which means they can handle
by large flagstone pavers. These were
vehicular, as well as pedestrian traffic,
produced in numerous sizes to roughly
should the need arise. And although the
the same 4,3:1 ratio which was used
design brief called for a strength rating
for the cobbles. This made them easily
of 25Mpa, SmartStone decided not to
interchangeable during the laying process.
deviate from its standard 40Mpa.
“Our design objective was to convert the street into an interpretation of an urban garden.” PRECAST | ISSUE ONE | 2020
