South African Sites

Kwandwe Ecca Lodge - E.Cape

Innovative safari accommodation: Set in spectacular African wilderness surrounds, this unique safari lodge boasts a revolutionary design - stone-and-mesh gabion walls, sliding glass, timber and gauze doors and corrugated iron roofing.
Gabion baskets have recently been used to build impressive cottage walls in the Eastern Cape at the Kwandwe Game Reserve - CCAfrica, near Grahamstown.
The gabions had been built on site. Due to the scarcity of rock on site, the contractor had used a stonemason to build the walls using rock supplied from quite a distance away. The rock had been broken to facilitate a very vertical, neat face with a small percentage of voids, and no bulge that could be visually noticed.
The gabions were tied to the newly built brick walls with a sand/cement mortar. During the erection of the brick wall steel wire had been placed at approx 1-metre centres and the grouting of the rock was anchored using this method.
Sandstone is a relatively soft rock and with the help of a stonemason can be shaped in such a way that there is very little bulging and very small voids. The sandstone has a very natural look and is available in a variety of colours allowing it to always be a focal point in any home.
It is possible to make use of other forms of rock, each of which will offer a different look and feel to the constructed wall.