Hybitat
Supervisor: Marie Snyman & Calayde Davey
SITE LOCATION: Hartbeespoort, North West
BUILDING PROGRAMME: industry, stay, craft, ecosystemic rehabilitation
CLIENT/STAKEHOLDERS: community, visitors, Madibeng municipality, local craft communities and construction industries
KEYWORDS: circularity, water hyacinth, sustainability, decay, rejuvenation
Abstract
HYBITAT is a regenerative architectural project located alongside the historic Hartbeespoort Dam wall in the North West Province, South Africa. Once a thriving agricultural and leisure destination, Hartbeespoort has faced severe ecological degradation and social decline due to the uncontrolled spread of invasive water hyacinth and the increasing privatisation of its waterfront. HYBITAT reimagines this challenge as an opportunity: transforming the invasive plant into a regenerative resource and reactivating the dam’s edge as a public, craft-centred landscape of making, learning, and community exchange.
The project functions as a pre-processing and craft hub where hyacinth from surrounding harvesting sites is sorted, shredded, treated, and pressed into materials used for local hyacinth craft. The design allows these productive processes to remain visible; craft spaces at street level overlook the pre-processing area below, linking making with material origin. Visitors and crafters engage directly with the transformation of the plant, fostering understanding of circular design and ecological restoration.
Along Scott Street, a continuous line of vendor spaces activates the street edge and public realm, offering properly designated areas for informal traders and makers. These spaces connect seamlessly with workshops, galleries, and shared learning areas, forming a network of social and economic exchange. A restaurant at the site’s eastern edge opens toward the dam, drawing visitors through the site and visually connecting dining, landscape, and production. Adjacent to it, a generous outdoor area accommodates markets, events, and gatherings, offering free and accessible public space within a context that is otherwise highly privatised.
Supported by accommodation catering for visiting lecturers, artisans, and participants, HYBITAT operates as a self-contained yet open network, where pre-processing, craft, learning, and leisure interweave. Through making the process visible, empowering local enterprise, and celebrating Hartbeespoort’s craft culture, the project restores both ecological and social balance, positioning the dam as a living, regenerative landscape of collective renewal.
