 Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | Raadsaal Sytze Wopkes WIERDA: Design Architect John Johnston KIRKNESS: Contractor HOLM JORDAAN HOLM: Restoration Architects 1991 |  | ||||||
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Click to view large map Coordinates: | The Foundation Stone was laid in 1889 by President Kruger. All the doors and windows for this building were made in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, by Samuel Baikie & Company - owned by the father-in-law to John KIRKNESS, contractor to the project, - shipped from there to Durban, railed to Charleston, the rail terminus at that time, and transported by wagon to Pretoria. RAADZAAL, PRETORIA A massive and glorious pile of buildings, considered by some to be the most imposing structure in Africa. They were begun in 1889, and completed in 1891, at a cost of £175 000. The carving above the portico, of the Transvaal arms, in white stone, with the national motto, quoted above ("Union makes strength"), is a very fine piece of work; as is also the statue of Liberty, which crowns the edifice. The chambers for the first and second Volksraads are beautiful rooms, and the whole building is a credit to its architects. Ref: Photographs of South Africa Comprising Representative Views etc, The South African Photo-Publishing Company, Cape Town, 1894: Pg 145. (Submitted by William MARTINSON, December 2010) RAADZAAL, PRETORIA. – The chief architectural glory of Pretoria is the Raadzaal, or Government Buildings, which occupies one side of Church Square. This handsome and imposing structure has a frontage 175 feet [53.34m] wide, a depth of 220 feet [67.06m], and a height of 125 feet [38.1m] from the ground to the top of the figure of Liberty, which surmounts the entrance; it contains two Chambers for the Volksraad, the President's and all the Public Offices of the State. The first Volksraad Chamber, in which portraits of President Kruger, Commandant-General Joubert, and General Smit are placed, is a spacious hall 64 feet [19.51m] wide and 42 feet [12.8m] high; and the second chamber is 44 feet [13.41m] by 44 feet. On the ground floors there are fire-proof rooms, where the State archives and land registers are deposited. The buildings are erected from designs by Mr. WIERDA, the Government Architect, at a total cost of £138,000. (Anon, c. 1899. Picturesque South Africa - An album of Photographic Views. Cape Town: Dennis Edwards & Co. p 176.) References:
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