Global engineering and infrastructure advisory company Aurecon is one of a group of companies throwing its weight behind the University of Cape Town to document the intervention and upgrading of the historic Stone Town Seafront in Zanzibar.

The project, which forms part of the Stone Town Historic Conservation Plan (STHCP), is being implemented by the Zanzibar Urban Services Project (ZUSP) and the Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority (STCDA), with the aim of preserving and upgrading urban infrastructure within the area and enhancing the physical environment and public locations within Stone Town.

Aurecon has been involved in projects on the Stone Town Seafront since 2012 and the academic research that the firm is currently supporting aims to document the completed works at Stone Town’s Seafront using Stereo Photogrammetry and highly detailed 3D models based on laser scanning.

Capturing the architecture of historical areas

Aurecon Associate, Pieter van Heerden, says that capturing the heritage and the architecture of historical areas and buildings is something that is becoming increasingly important across the African continent.

“Africa is rich with history and there are often very few records of some of our iconic buildings, structures and urban environments,” he says.

Van Heerden explains that by capturing information about urban areas, buildings, upgrades and interventions at heritage sites, engineers and architects will be better equipped to restore the buildings to their original look if the buildings are damaged or deteriorated due to conflict, climate change or other natural influences.

Supporting a worthy cause

The images will be made available freely online as a component of the UCT Zamani website, which is an African cultural heritage and landscape database.

“The work that is being undertaken at the Stone Town Seafront in Zanzibar, as well as the data capturing that is being done by the Zamani Project, are both of paramount importance to the engineering and architectural sector, as well as to Africa’s history. Aurecon is proud to be able to support such a worthy cause,” says van Heerden.

Other donors for the research include MBB Consulting Engineers (South); WML Coast Consulting Engineers; Planning Partners International; Rawlins Wales Cape (Pty) Ltd; and the University of Cape Town School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics.