Below is an incredibly powerful and detailed case study compiled by Dennis Radford in 1986. It looks at the restoration of 4 Anglo-African Street in Grahamstown and the creation of the Eastern Star Museum. The article was first published in Restorica, the old journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa). Thank you to the University of Pretoria for giving us permission to publish.
It is widely acknowledged that one of the greatest problems concerning the conservation of architectural heritage, not only in this country but elsewhere, is the finding of a compatible new use for the historic older building. By compatible it is meant that the form, spaces and details of the old are not obliterated by the adjustments necessary for housing the new use.
The following article traces in some detail the process that was followed to ensure such a happy result. The building used as an example is No 4 Anglo-African Street, a part of a complex of buildings that originally made up the Eastern Star premises c1871 and which is now a working museum of printing. The chief purpose in presenting this information is to show how closely the principle and practice of conservation must be intertwined to ensure a satisfactory result.
After restoration (Dennis Radford)
In early 1981, the author took...
