Corbelled Houses of Karoo - Werda

The African Conservation Trust (ACT) in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the Northern Cape Environmental Heritage Trust used 3D laser scanning technology to create permanent digital records of nine corbelled houses representing a range of styles and conditions. Data was collected with a Leica ScanStation C10 and a Z+F Imager 5010C. The corbelled houses project aimed to protect South Africa's threatened vernacular architecture and was part of the larger CyArk 500 Challenge. The scan data of the corbelled houses was used to assess damage to the structures. The historic corbelled houses in the Northern Cape, South Africa, are excellent examples of the ingenuity of the early pioneers who moved into the Karoo semi-desert landscape from about 1820 through to the end of the nineteenth century. They discovered that trees were sparse and set about building their dwellings using the only available material, stone. As there could be no wooden trusses to support the roof, they made use of an ancient method of construction known as corbelling. This technique was implemented by placing successive courses of flat stone, each one extending a little further inward than the layer beneath, until the walls almost met at the apex. The remaining hole over the roof could then be closed with a single slab. External Project Link: \N Additional Info Link: