Living Legacy
The Receding Tide
Fabric of the building
Living Legacy
Living Legacy
One of Cape Town’s oldest and most storied buildings, presumably built by slaves and strongly associated with the setting down of colonial roots, has undergone a physical and spiritual metamorphosis to become the new home of the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.
The Old Granary has retained its architectural integrity while being retro-fitted to suit the needs of a modern foundation and its work. After having been declared a provincial heritage site in 2017, The Foundation took occupation of the Old Granary in 2018.
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The Old Granary
The Granary provided a suitably officious backdrop for important public announcements, such as election results.
The façade statues are that of Neptune and Britannia, god of the sea and personification of Great Britain, respectively. The central design on the pediment is a carved British coat-of-arms straddled by a Scottish unicorn and English lion. Above and beneath the coat-of-arms are the French phrases: Dieu at mon droit (God and my right), motto of the British monarch, and Honi soit qui mal y pense (Evil to him who evil thinks), the motto of the British Chivalric Order of the Garter. The date on the pediment is 1814.
Re-imagining Space
The Foundation and City agreed to a
restoration philosophy that re-imagined
existing space, as far as possible, rather than breaking things down and starting from scratch.
Walls of glass are used to create office and archiving accommodation, maximising natural light and enabling one to visualise the original sizes and shapes of the building. Suitable environmental control and lighting technologies are retro-fitted without interfering with the building’s original structural integrity.
Once a former women’s prison, it had been described by one of the women held captive there as a “…den of infamy”. The building is now a beacon of hope. The building mirrors South Africa’s complex history, and it can now be seen as a place of healing with the Foundation as well as the exhibition calling it home.
Modern exhibition spaces have been created, framed by old brick walls and curious windows and entrance ways and a modern glass walkaway.
Re-imagining Space
“But it was only on hearing about the Old Granary’s rich and chequered past, that I realised that this too was a home with many
rooms…
We want to use this building, so rich with South Africa’s history of strife and division, to make visible the compassion and dignity needed by our country – and all people of the world – to make global peace a
daily reality.”
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
07 October 1931 – 26 December 2021
The Old Granary
Building Timeline