WEST COAST FOSSIL PARK, Vredenburg

OVP Landscape Architects

The West Coast Fossil Park is a national heritage site. It is the site where 50 years ago, a five million-year-old fossil was uncovered at a phosphate mine. When the mine’s mining potential was exhausted, the land was transferred to a trust in the 1980’s. The decision was then made to develop the site as a public amenity while supporting on-going excavations and scientific research. The National Lottery contributed towards the construction of the new interpretive centre which includes tourist reception, staff offices, a restaurant and a museum where fossils are displayed.

Due to the possibility of future fossil discoveries on the site, the choice of a suitable building site was explored exhaustively, with many options assessed. The eventual site selected was on a huge mound of mining sand where the foundations are unlikely to disturb any archaeologically sensitive areas or future fossil beds.

The buildings and connecting walkways are arranged in a ‘string of beads’ along the mound, and are layered horizontally to emphasize the ‘cutting’ into the site, similar to the way that the ground was excavated for phosphate mining.

The brief for the landscape design valued at R2.8 million, called for the site to be developed as a world class eco-tourism destination, to reveal and interpret the layers of archaeological history, to carefully consider the site as an archaeological resource where impacts were to be minimised and to maintain the site for on-going research. A special interpretive garden element was required to illustrate a specific ‘snapshot in archaeological time’ and for outdoor environmental and archaeological education.

The landscape design philosophy sought to maximise the uniqueness of the Strandveld biome, to embrace the design process so as to give full meaning to both the scientific and architectural disciplines and to mitigate the impact of the buildings. The design challenge centred around mediating between the buildings and associated circulation elements and the landscape.

The project was completed during the extended drought period and conditions for planting were not favourable. A combination of climate constraints, poor soils and limited budget prevailed. Consideration of local bio-diversity, fauna & flora management was undertaken through research and information sourced from scientific data and local expertise. This informed the plant selection of the soft landscaping elements that are irrigated from rainwater harvesting tanks.

For more information on the Fossil Park see – https://fossilpark.org.za/

Contact: OvP Landscape Architects @ http://www.ovp.co.za/

The Fossil Park is not available on the map – which indicates the location of Vredenburg, Western Cape.